How to Become a Trainer: Dragon Defenders
by ReptileGirl497
Summary: Team Go-Getters has finally found the fourth and final trainer in The Four Trainers Prophecy. Now that they've become part of the Resistance, they must protect everything they love from the enemy.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Live and Let Fly

 **And we're back to the one person intro and outro because I keep running out of dialogue for the characters. What say we get into season 2?**

* * *

 _The bond between trainer and Pokémon is strong. It remains even when the two are separated for a long period of time. Because they know they can still count on one another._

 _But not every trainer in the world believes that strength comes from bonds._

* * *

The trio of Noibat that had hatched out of Verne and Wavern's eggs were crawling all over their father's head, their wings hanging down in front of his eyes, preventing him from seeing clearly. This was the first time Verne had been given a chance to interact with his children directly, since the last time he saw them they had been in their eggs.

Ruido was the oldest and best flier out of the three, and, according to Snivels, his name was Spanish for "noise."

Onpa was the middle child, and behaved more like a sweetheart, with a love of accessorizing her ears with pretty bows. Ninjark identified the name as being "sound wave" in Japanese, which he knew how to speak quite fluently.

Then there was Laetio, the youngest. He was named after Verne's grandfather, who had also been a Shiny Noibat. His name was based on "læti," which meant "noise" in the Viking language, which had been foreign to the Pokémon until some couple hundred years ago.

But the Noibat trio weren't the only flying babies in the Ice Caves.

There was also Ra and Camazotz.

The Sun and Moon in Kyurem's Prophecy, respectively.

They were still Cosmog, only being able to Teleport to different locations, but were apparently capable of evolving into powerful Legendary Pokémon. Which was odd, since there were no records stating the existence of Legendary Pokémon that were part of an evolutionary chain. This provided the much-needed proof that there were still many secrets and mysteries regarding dragons and Pokémon.

Verne shook his head lightly to draw his children away from his eyes and ears. The trio of Noibat climbed down from his head and onto his back, with Laetio settling into his father's white fur and playing with the Green Scarf around Verne's neck that was used to distinguish between him and Wavern.

The Noivern knew it wasn't just the bond with his children that he needed to rekindle. He was Hiccup's Pokémon, and he'd just gone off and left his trainer on the promise to return with a female Night Fury. But only Toothless had known of that promise, so he was the only one who had been aware of what Verne had gone off to do.

Luckily for Verne, Hiccup was using the free time he had to find a way to bond further with his Noivern.

But he wasn't having the kind of luck he'd been hoping for.

The idea was to try and enter Verne into a friendly competition meant for Pokémon, but there was a slight problem Hiccup didn't even stop to consider.

"Only purebred Pokémon are allowed?!" he almost shouted.

"I'm afraid so," Fjord replied, his expression rather grim. "And unfortunately, Verne isn't a purebred. His mother was a Noivern, but his father was a Skarmory."

That was the most absurd thing that Hiccup had ever heard. And he wasn't alone in that department.

"Oh, come on!" Snivels protested. "Sure, there are some people who like to make a living showing off their Pokémon's skills, but half-blood Pokémon are just as good as purebreds!" While it was true Snivels was a purebred himself, it was really no surprise for him to stand up for a friend who couldn't stand up for themselves. He'd done that with Hiccup several times before.

Fjord was also quite irked with the fact of purebred favoritism, but even a Legendary Pokémon like himself couldn't do all that much about it. "Whether we may like it or not, that's the rule for Pokémon competitions."

"That's ridiculous!" Hiccup snapped. After a moment, he deflated. "Guess we'll just have to try and find something else."

Their conversation wasn't too far away from where Verne had been playing with his children, so the Noivern had heard everything. He wasn't new to the idea of Pokémon contests, but he hadn't realized until now that such a rule existed. Why did purebred Pokémon have to be favored over half-bloods?

"We'll see what we can find here," Fjord stated. His grim expression became more relaxed and a bit cheerful. "In the meantime, there's someone I believe you should meet - properly, this time."

Snivels and Hiccup exchanged looks. They had a feeling they knew who Fjord was talking about.

* * *

Sure enough, in just a few minutes, the entire team had been gathered in front of an eager-looking blonde teenaged boy and a pair of Cosmog.

Fjord laid one of his tendrils on the teen's shoulder. "This is Brandyn Aetherson, the fourth Trainer of Destiny. The Cosmog are his partners, Ra and Camazotz. I trust you'll all get along well." He locked eyes with Brandyn, who gave a curt nod. "I'll leave you all to get acquainted with each other."

With that, Fjord left the room.

Hiccup was the first to greet Brandyn. "It's nice to meet you," he said as he held out his hand for a handshake.

Brandyn stood stunned for a moment before he grasped Hiccup's hand and shook it vigorously. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III! It's an honor to finally meet you, I've heard so much about you." Behind his excitement, Brandyn's eyes suddenly glinted with realization. "I'm...shaking your hand too long." He let go of Hiccup's hand, laughing with giddiness like a child looking into a candy store. "This is awesome!"

He noticed Astrid standing a few feet away, and pointed at her. "I know you, too. You're amazing!"

Any other girl would have blushed at that, but Astrid didn't. For one, her heart was already set on Hiccup. And for another, Brandyn meant that as more of a friendly compliment than an attempt to flirt.

Brandyn took in a breath to calm himself. "Okay, I haven't been that giddy since I was six." He was beginning to sound a little more like Batwings. "It's really a pleasure to meet all of you." He turned to Ra and Camazotz. "Say hi, guys."

Nodding obediently, the two star babies waved at the group, simultaneously crying out a friendly, "Hi!"

The rest of Team Go-Getters exchanged glances and muttered amongst themselves. Except for Buddy, who trotted over and nudged Brandyn gently with his helmet. The teen responded by patting the Type: Null's shoulder.

An intrigued Snivels watched the friendly exchanged. "I take it you guys know each other."

"Yeah, we've met," Brandyn replied bluntly. He then added, "We were both cadets for the Resistance, after all."

"So, what does that make us?" Astrid asked.

Brandyn shrugged. "I heard some of the Legendaries talking about making all the members of Team Go-Getters VIPs."

The last word was barely out of his mouth when Blaze and Kickin' Hawk's children started jumping up and down in excitement. Then one of them accidentally stepped on one of Crackers's feet. The startled Sobble darted to and fro, whimpering in pain and fear. He bumped into Mawnan, causing the nearsighted Rowlet to lose his glasses. Amber quickly found the glasses, but was too late to grab them before Palus stepped on them by accident while trying to avoid the scurrying Crackers. Things quickly escalated after that, from Astrid's Litten, Cross, and Heather's Scorbunny, Flare, arguing over who was the better Fire-Type, to the Electric-Types Tito, Raika and Amp electrocuting all the other Pokémon (except for the Ground-Types, who were immune).

Hiccup winced at the small amount of chaos that was taking place. "They might want to hold off on those passes for a while."

Ra laughed. "Fun game!"

"Can we play, too?" Camazotz asked, eagerly.

"Trust me," Brandyn said as he watched the chaos happening before them. "You don't want to play a game like that."

Things slowly started to calm down after the combined attacks of Tito, Raika and Amp. Brandyn's eyes found Heather among the Pokémon, smoothing down her raven-black hair, which was frizzed from the electric shocks. He'd only seen her a split second before, but he still recognized her. With Ra and Camazotz following not far behind, he approached Heather just as she finished smoothing out her hair. "Hi. We didn't get a chance to introduce ourselves before." He brushed some of his dirty blonde hair out of his eyes. "Brandyn's the name."

"Um," Heather hesitated, flattered and somewhat embarrassed. "H-Heather."

"Nice name," Brandyn complimented. His blue eyes fixated on her features. "I can tell you come from the Peaceables. Pale complexion, quiet voice, and all that. Very nice, and rather refreshing when all of the people you've encountered outside the Ice Caves happen to be loud, brash Vikings."

Heather wasn't sure how to take that. "Thank you?"

Brandyn chuckled at her uncertainty and shyness. His smile ended up making Heather smile as well, a faint blush creeping onto her cheeks. Brandyn turned to face Hiccup. "I heard you were looking to enter your half-blood Noivern into a Pokémon competition. There's one I know of that doesn't have the purebred-only rule, and it travels around a lot, but there have been reports of Pokémon theft in every location it's been to. I'm thinking, if you and Verne go undercover by taking part in the contest, we might be able to figure out what's going on."

"I appreciate you trying to help," Hiccup said. "But Verne is my Pokémon, I need to figure this out myself. Besides, I'm not putting any of my friends in danger."

"You know we can handle ourselves, right?" replied Astrid, somewhat offended by her husband's statement.

Unfortunately, Hiccup didn't have a comeback for that one.

* * *

As it turned out, Fjord knew all too well about the traveling Pokémon competition, and had been planning on having Team Go-Getters investigate the organization anyway.

But there was a team member who hadn't been present for Brandyn's introduction, and had missed the mission briefing. And he was lying comfortably in his room.

"Finally, the weekend is here," Adhesive said with a sigh of relaxation. "And not just any weekend." He pulled out his tablet and plugged in a pair of headphones. "This is the weekend I finally get to watch season three of Skylanders Academy!" He turned on his tablet and opened the Netflix app while putting on his headphones. "I've waited a long time for this. A soft bed." He fluffed the pillows cushioning his large head. "A full assortment of snacks." He turned to look at the array of junk food he'd set aside with the intention of snacking on. "And two whole days of _harmony-y_!"

That last word came out in the form of a song. Specifically, the Skylanders Academy opening theme song.

But before Adhesive could play the first new episode, a loud banging sound from the door to his room made him jump about a foot into the air. "What the heck?!"

Not bothering to wait for Adhesive to answer her knocking, Blaze practically threw the door open in annoyance. "Would it kill you to get off of those gadgets and attend meetings with the rest of the team?"

"They're not just gadgets," Adhesive said, throwing off his headphones and hugging his tablet protectively. "These things are my babies, and I never go anywhere without them. Or my portable Wi-Fi router, for that matter."

Blaze rolled her eyes before storming out of the room. "Just come on!"

Adhesive begrudgingly set his tablet down and followed the Blaziken out of the room and down the hallway. His Netflix binge-watching would have to wait until later.

* * *

The flight to the island where the traveling Pokémon competition had been stationed was mostly in silence, apart from the occasional "Are we there yet?" from one of the younger members. And it took them longer to get there than they thought it would, since it was Brandyn's first time flying on the back of a dragon - specifically one of the Grapple Grounders.

"What did you say his name was again?" he asked the Servine prince.

"Basilisk," Snivels replied from his position on Verne's back. "But he prefers the nickname Buck, if you will. Not sure why, though, but I think it's because he thinks his real name sounds too scary."

Brandyn shrugged. "I think it sounds cool."

The entire team had to walk the rest of the way once they found the island. They weren't sure if the people attending, and running, the show were familiar with dragons, so the trainer decided to leave them on the edge of the island. Hiccup fully expected that he'd have to bribe Toothless with a basket of fish to get him to stay put, but the Night Fury surprised him by obediently sitting down out on a bluff with Ebony beside him. Stormfly, Windshear, Buck and the rest of the dragons soon joined them.

The same rule applied to all of the Dragon-type Pokémon except for Verne, since he was the one Hiccup was going to enter into the competition. With the Noivern following right behind his trainer, Hiccup led the group to where the competition was set up. Astrid kept pace with him, instead of walking behind him with the rest of the team. Maybe she was still a little bitter about Hiccup's previous statement, but he hoped he could change that.

"I'm sorry if you took what I said earlier the wrong way," Hiccup said, averting his wife's eyes in case she was still mad. "I just don't want anyone to get hurt because of me."

Astrid walked a little closer to him, taking his hand in her own. "I appreciate you worrying about our wellbeing, but you know me. I can handle myself just fine."

Hiccup couldn't think of a good reply, so silence settled over them. He turned his gaze behind him to the Pokémon – Amber with her arm draped over Snivels's shoulders, Kicking' Hawk and Blaze trying to keep their children in line, Tito and Amp the Flaaffy being flirted with by Raika the Manectric, the glasses-lacking Mawnan perched on top of Buddy's helmet with Crackers cowering beneath the Type: Null while nibbling on his favorite snack, Xylia gazing up at the recently-evolved Ninjark with infatuation in her eyes, Palus conversing with Gameroid the Grookey, Cross and Flare fighting over Dazzle the Salandit, Phoxie practicing her spells while Captain watched, Hokkaido the Rockruff looking to play a friendly game of tag, Sirena the Popplio practicing her singing, and Adhesive flying this way and that trying to keep up with the overeager Ra and Camazotz.

Adding in the Dragon-types, it was a lot of Pokémon to keep track of. But they were all family to Hiccup. A great deal more family than Stoick had ever been (even though the thought still made Hiccup feel a bit uneasy, it was his father after all).

Verne could sense that his trainer was feeling a bit uneasy, and since Toothless wasn't there he decided to take the job of comforting Hiccup the way a dragon can himself. He gently nudged Hiccup's back with his nose, and commenced flying ahead of Hiccup and Astrid. As he landed a few feet in front of the couple, he swished his tail like a dog would do. He was too big to play the way he did as a Noibat, but he would never outgrow a scratch behind the ears, or a belly rub.

"What's with him?" inquired Astrid, quirking an eyebrow.

Hiccup was a bit confused himself, but he had a good idea. "It's been a while since Verne and I have interacted with each other. If I had to guess, I'd say he just wants some attention."

Verne's wings slumped a little. He hadn't really been thinking about it like that, but, now that he was, some manner of attention from his trainer _would_ be very nice.

The moment was interrupted by Adhesive, who addressed Hiccup after nearly flying by after Ra and Camazotz. "So, what's the plan, Onomato?"

Hiccup was about to answer before his face scrunched up in confusion. "Wait, wh-what did you just call me?"

"Onomato," Adhesive repeated. "It's short for 'onomatopoeia.' You know, the formation of a word from a sound associated with what it's named? That happens to include the word 'hiccup,' so I thought, you know..."

Astrid shot him a glare that could have burned a hole straight through the entire earth.

Adhesive got the hint and started to back away. "O-Okay, I'll just, uh, leave you two alone to, um, discuss things thoroughly, maybe enjoy a romantic moment. Yeah, th-that's what I'll do."

He didn't know that Hiccup and Astrid spent the next few minutes doing exactly that.

* * *

The Pokémon competition was organized in a way that reminded the trainers of the auctions people held for trading items and rare goods. There were several tents selling vitamins made especially for Pokémon, a set of stat-enhancing items that somehow resembled feathers, several colored scarves like the ones Verne and Wavern wore, Incenses, and some Type-enhancing items like Miracle Seeds and Charcoal.

In short, it was basically a fair of some kind.

The largest tent was where the Pokémon contest was being held. There was already a long line of trainers and their Pokémon waiting to get inside and register for the contest.

Verne was the only Dragon-type in the entire fair. Thankfully, since Noivern was a relatively rare Pokémon, and Vikings weren't big on reading, most of the people attending the fair didn't know that.

Hiccup and Verne quickly took their place at the back of the line, right behind an older trainer and his Crobat. The Bat Pokémon locked eyes with the Sound Wave Pokémon, and the two glared at one another, a spark of rivalry forming between them. It was common for Pokémon to compete with one another to see who's the best, but the competitiveness the Noibat and Zubat evolutionary families had for each other dated all the way back to the old days.

It didn't help that Verne's mother had lost a race with a Crobat sometime before Verne met Hiccup as a Noibat. The Crobat he was currently rivaling against wasn't the same one, but it provided Verne with the chance to prove he was stronger than he had been before.

Snivels caught the look in Verne's eye and pulled out a Poffin, which happened to be both his and Verne's favorite snack. The Noivern gobbled up the delicious treat, momentarily forgetting all about the Crobat.

Thoughtfully, Astrid eyed the tent where the contest was being held. "So, you're just going to waltz in there, all by yourself, and go looking for any suspicious behavior?"

Hiccup shrugged, suddenly uncomfortable. "That's...not my whole plan…" He sighed, and went on, "As much as I don't want to get anyone else in trouble, I need you and the other members to search the grounds. See if there's anything that might give a lead on the thefts."

"I'm going in there with you," Snivels said, determinedly.

"Sorry, Snivs," Hiccup sighed again. "Only one Pokémon per trainer is allowed in there. Besides, I need you to help Astrid lead the others in the investigating. See if you can sniff anything out. And maybe try not to talk too much around other people."

The Servine nodded before leaving to join Amber, who was waiting with Hiccup's other Pokémon.

Not so easily swayed, Astrid pointed out, "If you're going to keep putting yourself in potential danger, then the rest of Team Go-Getters is going to as well. Haven't you learned, after all this time, that we make a really good team?"

"Yes, I have to admit," Hiccup confessed. "I mean, even Blaze and Kickin' Hawk's kids have their uses."

He could have sworn he saw Astrid blush slightly. "I was...kinda talking about you and me..." she muttered.

Realizing what she meant, Hiccup sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and tried not to look at her. Even married, he couldn't help but feel shy and insecure around Astrid.

Then, perhaps because she felt the situation was getting too awkward, she gave him a friendly punch in the shoulder.

* * *

It didn't take long for the team to split up across the fairgrounds. Snivels took to leading the rest of Hiccup's Pokémon (minus the Dragon-types), while Astrid and Blaze took their team members (along with Champion, Blister, Batalla, Asta, Roughneck and Basan; who all wanted to stay with their mother).

Of course, Heather and Brandyn just _had_ to have ended up together. Not that either one of them was complaining, but it was quite awkward for Heather to be conversing with someone who reminded her of Batwings.

And what surprised her was that Brandyn somehow knew about that.

"I take it I remind you of my Siren counterpart?"

"How did you know that?" demanded Heather, albeit with some stammering.

Brandyn informed her, "I'm familiar with the Multiverse and how it works. After learning about Batwings, I became quite interested in the idea of meeting you. You know, in a platonic sense. We can start out as friends, and if we like how things are going, we'll work our way up. What do you think?"

Heather's face was probably a bright scarlet at that point. "I..." She nervously brushed a few stray hairs out of her eyes before finishing her answer. "I'd like that."

That earned her a smile from Brandyn. "In that case, maybe we could meet up later? I could get you a tea, or some of that Miltank milk."

She nodded enthusiastically. "Sounds great!"

Brandyn's eyes lit up at her enthusiasm. Then, like it was the most natural thing in the world, he leaned in to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. The sound of giggling brought his attention to Ra and Camazotz, who had witnessed the whole thing. The two star babies broke into song.

" _Brandyn's got a girlfriend, Brandyn's got a girlfriend!_ "

Shaking his head, Brandyn gently shoed the two Cosmog away, leaving a blushing Heather to her own devices.

Adhesive and Heather's Pokémon had also witnessed the exchange. "Did I mention I also ship Heatherwings?" the Poipole asked. "I wonder what the ship would be called in this universe...Branther? No, that doesn't sound right..."

Ninjark sighed sadly. "Why can't Xylia and I be like that?"

"Probably because you're one up on her when it comes to your evolutionary chains," Captain replied.

Ninjark knew the Quilladin was right. He was a fully-evolved Greninja, while Xylia was still a Grovyle.

Phoxie didn't approve of Captain's answer, though, so she hit him in the head with her stick wand.

* * *

It didn't take long for Hiccup and Verne to reach the front of the line. During the time they were waiting, Hiccup watched as a man at the entrance to the tent, possibly the man in charge of the contest, examined each Pokémon before allowing them in. If Hiccup had to guess, the man in charge was making sure the Pokémon were eligible to enter.

He stood and watched nervously as the man took much more time examining Verne than he did the other entries. After a moment, the man asked, "Is this your Pokémon?"

Hiccup nodded wordlessly.

The man smiled and patted Verne's nose. "Quite a rare find around these parts." He turned and faced Hiccup. "The name's Harold Forkbeard, and I'm in charge of the contest. Tell you what, I'll make you a deal. If you let me buy your Pokémon, I'll train it to become a professional performer. You'll be able to win any contest you can imagine."

Hiccup looked from Harold to Verne, and then back again. "I'm sorry, but Verne's not for sale."

Harold looked disappointed for a brief moment before recovering. "Very well, then. You may enter."

The inside of the tent was filled with trainers and their Pokémon, most of them Flying-types. Right away, Verne found the Crobat among the crowd, exchanging yet another glare with his rival. Their stare contest was interrupted by Harold as he stepped into the middle of the arena.

"Everyone, welcome to the Traveling Pokémon Contest. Just for today, you all have the opportunity to show off your Pokémon in a competition to see who's the best. In the first round, each trainer will display their Pokémon's best moves to impress our judges, but only half of you will make it through to the second round, which is the battle portion. Trainers and their Pokémon will face off against one another in battle until there's only one winner left standing. Good luck to you all. Now, let's see our first contestant!"

Given that he and Verne were very nearly the last ones to enter, Hiccup had plenty of time to figure out a routine for Verne to perform. He gestured to the Noivern to lower his head so he could whisper something in his ear. "Let's try to hold off on using Dragon Pulse for now."

Verne nodded in agreement. They didn't want to risk anyone finding out Noivern was part Dragon-type.

Most of the attending Pokémon were common finds such as Pidgeot, Noctowl, Swellow, Staraptor, Unfezant and Talonflame; but there were also a few odd ones out, like Verne's Crobat rival, Ninjask, Yanmega, Gliscor, Emolga, Mantine, and even the exotic Toucannon.

When it was finally time for Verne to perform, everyone went quiet with anticipation. At Hiccup's signal, Verne flew up into the air, flapping his wings and creating a powerful cyclone of wind. The Hurricane gradually got larger and larger until Verne flew up over it so he was looking straight down into the eye of the cyclone. Then he unleashed a powerful Boomburst from the inside of his ears. The sound waves caused the Hurricane to swell until it finally burst outward and dispersed, leaving only a few wisps of wind. Satisfied, Verne landed in the middle of the area as everyone who had been watching cheered.

After the last contestant was finished with their performance, Harold left the judges to their decision. He left through a hidden back entrance to the tent and found a pair of Lycanroc, one Midday and one Midnight, waiting for him. "Be ready to snatch them."

Both Lycanroc sneered in anticipation.

* * *

Astrid did her best to ignore all the salespeople calling out for her to buy their products. She was never one to buy anything she knew she'd never use.

Blaze had her own problem. "Was it really a good idea to bring the kids with us?"

The young Pokémon, minus Champion the Shiny Hawlucha, were running every which way and checking out all the stores. Besides Blaze, Xylia and Raika were the only ones fast enough to keep track of them all.

"Well, on the bright side, at least they have a chance of finding a lead," Palus muttered.

Blaze nearly smacked the back of the Marshtomp's head, but she knew he had a good point.

Astrid paid no attention to them, instead fingering the pendant that was still hanging around her neck.

"I hope Hiccup knows what he's doing..."

* * *

Snivels, Amber, Kickin' Hawk and the Galar starters were having considerably more luck than the others. Kickin' Hawk had noticed a second, smaller tent set up right behind the tent where the contest was being held.

"Now, why would anyone set up a second tent right behind the main attraction?"

Snivels looked at the veteran Hawlucha. "I thought Fjord told you."

Kickin' Hawk shook his head. "Fjord doesn't tell me everything he sees in his visions," he said.

One by one, each Pokémon entered the tent cautiously. The first thing they noticed was a great number of wooden boxes stacked onto one another, some big enough to hold a Snorlax. Snivels couldn't help but sniff some of the boxes, hoping to find out what was inside. His eyes went wide as he caught the scent of living creatures emanating from the wooden crates.

"Snivels, what is it?" Amber asked, laying a clawed hand on his shoulder.

"There are Pokémon in these crates," the Servine replied, his voice full of horror.

Crackers, Flare and Gameroid all shook with dreadful recognition. "I remember this," the Sobble whimpered.

Snivels looked at the three. "Remember what?" he asked.

"We were in crates," said Gameroid. The Grookey was holding his stick tightly in both hands and cuddling it close to his chest like a security blanket. "Just like these."

Flare finished, "We managed to get away, but then we got caught by that Dagur guy. The rest is history." The Scorbunny's ears drooped slightly as he spoke.

Snivels slumped his shoulders. "You must really miss your families."

Crackers looked up at his older brother figure with cloudy eyes, like he was about to start crying. "We're the only ones like us we've ever seen. I don't think there's any others of our kinds anywhere in these islands."

Snivels opened his mouth to say something, but the sound of a voice prompted them all to quickly and quietly hide behind the crates.

"You two go corner us some Pokémon," Harold ordered. "I'll make sure those beasts are all still asleep. Those sedatives I slipped into their food are quite strong, so they should be good until after we ship off."

The sound of the man's voice sent chills down Crackers's spine, but no one seemed to notice.

Sparing a moment to look around the corner of the crate he was hiding behind, Snivels saw a pair of Lycanroc stalking in their direction. "We need to get out of here," he whispered. "Now!"

Crackers didn't move at first, due to being paralyzed with fear. But he saw the other Pokémon retreating out of the corner of his eye and went to follow them.

Unfortunately for the Sobble, Harold's Midnight Form Lycanroc saw him. Sneering, the Wolf Pokémon hid himself behind one of the crates, reached into a nearby bag of snacks, and threw out a cracker.

Crackers heard the sound of something hitting the floor and glanced over his shoulder. He stopped when he saw a lone cracker just sitting there, waiting to be devoured. Unable to resist the temptation, Crackers ran back, leaned down, picked up the cracker in his mouth and swallowed it. The moment the cracker disappeared down the Sobble's throat, Midnight Lycanroc leapt out of his hiding place, growling in satisfaction.

The sound alerted Harold and Midday Lycanroc. The other Wolf Pokémon got there first, positioning himself so he was behind the frightened Sobble. The two Lycanroc circled Crackers as the Sobble shook with fear. Any attempt to escape would have one, or both, of the Lycanroc blocking his path.

Before Crackers could come up with a proper plan, he felt something slip over his head and tighten around his neck. He looked down to find a noose around his neck. He tried to run, but the rope held tight. Fear evident in his eyes, Crackers looked up to find Harold holding the other end of the rope. The man who haunted the Sobble's nightmares glared down at the helpless Water Lizard Pokémon.

"Found you."

* * *

 **We've got the contest plot and the Crackers subplot going, along with a few touches of Hiccstrid and whatever you call the ship between Brandyn and Heather.**

 **Harold Forkbeard isn't an original character, he appears in the online game "School of Dragons." Those of you who don't play it, you should try it, it's really cool!**

 ** **As Cottonmouth25 once said, live, love, and review, readers!****


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Fighting Ire with Flyer

 **Let's see how Team Go-Getters gets out of this one, shall we?**

* * *

Snivels and the rest of Hiccup's Pokémon didn't stop running until they were as far away from Harold's tent as they could possibly be.

"We've gotta warn the others," panted Amber. "Who knows what'll happen if Harold manages to get ahold of Verne."

Tito managed to catch enough of his breath to add, "Or the other contest Pokémon, for that matter."

As much as Snivels knew how right the Charmeleon and Heliolisk were, that wasn't the only problem they had. One quick head count was all it took for him to realize that someone was missing. "Where's Crackers?"

Amber panicked when she, too, realized that the Sobble was absent. "Did anyone see him leave the tent?!"

Everyone else shook their heads "no."

"We've gotta go back and find him," Snivels said, worry etched onto his Servine facial features.

Kickin' Hawk shook his head sadly. "If we do, Harold will be expecting it. Chances are, he's already gotten backup."

"We're not leaving a fellow Go-Getter behind!" Amber declared.

"No one said we were," Snivels said calmly. He then addressed the entire group. "Everyone fan out, look for the other members, but stay within eyesight of each other." He pointed to his own two eyes for emphasis.

They didn't need anyone else being captured by Harold.

* * *

Crackers ended up being held in one of the wooden crates where the other stolen, sedated Pokémon were kept. The Sobble wisely refused the food Harold gave him, even his favorite snack. He knew the sedative Harold used on the other stolen Pokémon was hidden in the food, in some manner or form. Harold's two Lycanroc stalked in the shadows, keeping an eye on the crates while at the same time waiting for their master's signal to strike.

Harold himself had gone back to hosting the contest.

"A big thank you to all of our contestants and their Pokémon's performances. Now, it's time for the judges to go off in private, and, well, judge."

The three judges sitting at a table behind the performance arena stood up and took their leave.

"Remember, only half of the contestants move on to the battle portion of the contest," added Harold. "Good luck to you all!"

Verne shifted a little on his talons. Hiccup noticed his friend's anxiety and patted the Noivern's hide comforting. All the other contestants had practiced their routines over and over until they reached perfection. They could only hope their impromptu act would be enough for them to advance.

After a few, long, agonizing moments, the judges returned with the results.

Many of the acts that didn't make it through were performed by the more common-found Pokémon, which Hiccup found odd since some of their performances were rather dazzling. He lost track of who had gotten in until Harold stated that there were only two spots left.

"The next spot goes to..." Harold paused for dramatic effect. "Gladstone and his Crobat!"

Crobat exchanged a glare with Verne.

"And now, there's only one spot left," Harold said, holding up his index finger for emphasis. "And that spot goes to..."

This dramatic pause was a lot longer than the last. Finally, Harold gestured in the direction of a certain trainer.

"Hiccup and his Noivern!"

Verne squawked in surprise before puffing out his chest and holding his head high. Hiccup let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

Two of Harold's human assistants escorted all of the eliminated contestants out of the tent. Verne and Hiccup watched them leave, slightly suspicious over why the more common yet obviously well-trained Pokémon had been eliminated.

"And here's where we take a quick break," announced Harold. "Judges will determine the matchups for the battle portion, so be ready!"

Oh, Verne would be ready, alright. Ready to kick some Crobat butt!

* * *

Harold's Lycanroc had been watching the results, the Midnight Form sneering eagerly. The Midday Form remained stoic, for such a facial expression did not suit him well.

Crackers could hear everything going on through the wood of his crate. He knew he had to get out. But how? The only way out was up, where the lid of the crate was slightly off.

It was a long shot, but it was the only chance he had.

Slowly, but surely, Crackers began to climb up the walls of the crate.

Sadly, it was hard to focus when the Sobble was afraid of being caught. Any slight sound or movement, and he feared that Harold or one of the Lycanroc was heading his way, to make sure he couldn't escape. And just like that, he'd climb right back down to the bottom of the crate, and he'd have to start over.

But a Go-Getter never gives up.

So, he kept trying.

And with each attempt, his fear of being caught faded away, bit by bit.

* * *

Elsewhere, on the bluff, poor Toothless was bored out of his mind. Oh, how he wanted to join Hiccup at the fair. But he'd been explicitly ordered to stay out of the fairgrounds, to avoid causing a mass panic.

The Night Fury watched, uninterested, as Lockheed started playing tag with the other Speed Stinger dragonets. He'd join in, but being stung by an adolescent Speed Stinger wasn't very high on his to-do list.

" _You okay, tough guy?_ " Ebony asked as she lay down next to him.

Toothless snorted. " _I'm fine._ "

The female Night Fury let out a sigh before nuzzling him comfortingly. " _I know how much your rider means to you. Maybe he'll make it up to you later._ "

" _I certainly hope so,_ " Toothless rumbled. He continued to watch the younger dragons play around. Lockheed and the other Speed Stinger dragonets' game of tag, the young Boneknappers were fighting over a dragon rib bone they found somewhere, the three adolescent Scauldrons were playing in the water with their Seadra colleagues, and Chomper the Gible going on an imaginary adventure.

Ebony caught Toothless's gaze and gave him a dragon smile. " _Do you want dragonets?_ "

" _Yes,_ " Toothless admitted. " _But not now._ "

" _Someday, then,_ " Ebony said, mostly to herself.

Toothless nodded in confirmation.

Dragonets could wait. At the moment, they had more pressing matters to deal with.

* * *

As per Snivels's suggestion, Hiccup's non-Dragon-type Pokémon fanned out to cover a wider area as they searched for the other team members. Since they didn't want to risk being captured by Harold and his men, they each made sure they could still see one another. If they split up any further, there was a chance someone would snatch a member without the others noticing until it was too late.

"Find anything?" Snivels called out.

Amber shook her head. "No sign of the others. Or Crackers."

Their conversation didn't go unnoticed. Some of Harold's henchmen who were patrolling the fairgrounds saw and heard them, clear as day.

"Talking Pokémon!"

The incompetent henchman's shout alerted Snivels and the rest of the group to their presence.

For the second time that day, they beat a hasty retreat.

* * *

Adhesive was probably lucky there was no rule forbidding him from bringing his phone on missions.

Or unlucky, depending on how you looked at it.

"Probably should have thought about the lack of WiFi out here."

The only things he could do without WiFi was send text messages, make phone calls, and play songs off of his music app. Most of the games he'd downloaded were useless without any network connection, except for some of the swap puzzle apps, which he hardly played that often.

"Need help picking a song?"

Adhesive jumped a little, but relaxed when he realized it was Brandyn. "I take it you're familiar with the technology of the future?"

Brandyn shrugged. "I visited Ultra Megalopolis with Drageist a few times while in training." He held out his hand, and Adhesive plopped his phone into the teenager's palm.

Ahead of them, Heather was walking with her Pokémon. "Do you think Brandyn actually likes me? As in, like, romantic attraction?"

"It's possible," Ninjark replied. "Maybe he knows more about you than we think."

Phoxie giggled. "Maybe he even knows you better than you!"

Heather looked over her shoulder at Brandyn, the Braixen's words echoing through her head.

Paying no attention to the group ahead of him, Brandyn scanned through the list of song artists on Adhesive's music app. "Imagine Dragons, maybe. Backstreet Boys, not into it. Katy Perry, too much love. Weird Al?" He gave the Poipole a skeptical look. "How old are you?"

Adhesive's response was a sheepish grin.

Brandyn shook his head and resumed browsing through the songs. He stopped when the name of a particular singer caught his eye.

"Clara Nightingale."

Adhesive chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I love Clara Nightingale."

Brandyn looked up at the Poipole. "I love Clara Nightingale, too."

The two exchanged smiles before Brandyn set the song to play. Then the duo began to sing along.

" _Don't you stop, dancing to the music!_ "

* * *

Snivels didn't expect to run into Astrid while trying to avoid himself and the others being captured.

And he ran into her quite literally.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Astrid asked.

Snivels didn't stop to ask how she wasn't fazed by him bumping into her. There was a much bigger problem they had to deal with. "Harold Forkbeard's the one behind the Pokémon thefts! He runs the contest, and steals the contestants' partners when no one's looking!"

Blaze looked at her trainer expectantly. "Battle time?"

Astrid nodded in confirmation.

"Battle time."

* * *

Speaking of battle, Verne and Hiccup were participating in the battle portion of the contest at that very moment.

The trainer and Noivern duo easily beat every opponent they'd been pitted against, and soon reached the match that would decide the winner of the contest. Their final opponent, you might have guessed, was Gladstone's Crobat.

"You should just quit while you're ahead," Gladstone said tauntingly. He was a few years older than Hiccup, and he was as cocky as Snotlout, if not more so. Then again, who could be more arrogant than a Jorgenson?

Verne let out a snarl, his eyes locked with Crobat's. No way he'd be quitting now.

Harold stood in the middle of the arena, but not in dead center or else he'd be hit with the attacks of both Pokémon during the battle. "Trainers ready?" After receiving a nod from both Hiccup and Gladstone, he stepped back to give the Pokémon more room. "Let the battle begin!"

"Stop!"

Everyone jumped at the sudden protest, even Verne and Crobat. The rest of Team Go-Getters (still excluding the dragons and Dragon-type Pokémon) had gathered in record time and were entering the tent at an alarming rate. Snivels, the one who had cried out, pointed at Harold. "That man has been stealing the contestants' Pokémon!"

Gladstone was more surprised at the idea of a Servine speaking like a human that what had been said. "A talking Pokémon? I've never heard of such a thing!"

Sighing in frustration, Snivels shouted to Gladstone, "Harold's going to steal your Crobat!"

Hiccup and Verne looked at Harold, who was sneering.

"I'd say he's wrong," Harold said. "But that wouldn't be true. Though, for the record, not all of the Pokémon I store in those crates in the back were stolen from trainers. It's not every day you find a wild Pidgey that can use Heat Wave. Or a Riolu that can use Aura Sphere." He turned to Hiccup. "Since you caught me, how about a deal? If your Noivern defeats my Lycanroc, I'll let all of the Pokémon go free."

That sounded a lot better than the "deal" he attempted to make earlier to buy Verne off of Hiccup. (Looking back at it now, it made total sense why Harold had made the offer in the first place) Then again, Harold hadn't said what would happen if Verne lost.

Seeing no other choice, Hiccup nodded. "Deal."

No sooner after the agreement had been made, several armor-clad men came out of nowhere, grabbing and restraining the rest of Team Go-Getters, along with Gladstone. Only Crobat was fast enough to fly up out of the men's clutches.

Verne and Hiccup shot Harold twin glares, but the man merely shrugged. "It's to prevent cheating." He then snapped is fingers, and Midnight Lycanroc leapt out of the shadows, landing in front of his trainer. "We'll make the first move. Use Stone Edge, now!"

Midnight Lycanroc stomped one of its front paws on the ground, and several pointed light blue rock pillars to appear out of the ground and rushed towards Verne. Hiccup barely had enough time to order Verne to fly up into the air and dodge the super effective attack.

"Nice dodge," Hiccup complimented. Verne squawked at him in thanks. "Now, let's try a Boomburst."

Verne squawked in agreement. The inside of his ears glowed white before he fired a blast of powerful white sound waves from them at Midnight Lycanroc. Now, because Lycanroc was a Rock-type, Normal-type moves didn't have much effect. But that's doesn't mean Midnight Lycanroc didn't cover his ears from the sheer force of the loud noise.

"Lycanroc, use Rock Tomb!"

Straining against the loud noise of the Boomburst, Midnight Lycanroc howled, and multiple gray rocks outlined in white energy formed around his head before heading straight for Verne.

"Try using Hurricane," Brandyn suggested. "It has a chance of confusing the opponent if it hits."

Hiccup thought for a minute before deciding to give it a shot. "You heard him, Verne. Hurricane!"

Verne flew up higher into the air, flapping his wings and creating a powerful cyclone of wind. The Hurricane gradually got larger and larger, blowing back the rocks from Rock Tomb. Midnight Lycanroc was able to dodge the rocks from his own attack, but ended up getting sucked into the cyclone. Even a sturdy Rock-type had trouble fighting against the winds. After what seemed like forever, the Hurricane dispersed, and Midnight Lycanroc tumbled to the ground.

"Get up and use Crunch!" Harold shouted.

Midnight Lycanroc stood up, but his eyes were rather glassy and he was looking all around as if he had no idea where he was.

Snivels noticed. "The Hurricane worked! His Lycanroc is confused!"

Harold had also noticed, but he didn't seem as fazed as the team expected him to be. He snapped his fingers, and another Lycanroc, this one Midday Form, leapt out of nowhere. Midday Lycanroc's teeth were glowing white as he bit down hard on Midnight Lycanroc. His werewolfesque counterpart blinked, his eyes no longer glassy, before letting out a howl. Both Wolf Pokémon then glared at Verne and snarled.

Heather's eyes went wide with shock. "He has another one?!"

Infuriated, Astrid struggled against the firm hold of Harold's henchmen. "Only a coward would use a second Pokémon!" she shouted angrily.

"I said I'd let the Pokémon go if he defeated my Lycanroc," Harold said calmly. A sneer then curled his lips. "I never said I only had one."

Astrid hated to admit it, but Harold was right. "Lycanroc," like all other Pokémon names, was both singular and plural, so the number Harold had with him had been ambiguous.

Even so, Verne now had to defeat two Lycanroc all by himself. That wasn't a fair fight.

Harold didn't care about that. "Both of you, use Stone Edge!"

Midnight and Midday Lycanroc raised their paws to unleash a dual attack, but before they could, light-blue crescents of aura rained down on them. The two Lycanroc flinched, and everyone else looked up to find Gladstone's Crobat flying directly above the battlefield. He was the one who used Air Slash on the two Wolf Pokémon.

Crobat lowered himself so he was flying level with Verne. The two flying Pokémon nodded at each other, shifting their eyes to the Lycanroc and glaring at them.

Struggling against the muscular henchman that had his arms pinned behind his back, Gladstone shouted to Hiccup, "Don't just stand there, give Crobat a command!"

Hiccup looked at Gladstone over his shoulder, then back at Crobat. "Let's see...what other moves do you know?"

As if to answer his question, Crobat crossed its two larger wings in front of itself, forming a light blue 'X' like energy with a magenta outline before flying forward and slamming into Midnight Lycanroc.

X-Scissor.

Verne quickly followed Crobat's example, his wings glowing white before taking the appearance of a sort of metal. Vern then flew straight at the two Lycanroc, striking both in the belly with his Steel Wing.

But Harold wasn't done yet. "Counter!"

Midnight Lycanroc's blood-red eyes shot open, his paw glowing orange with a green outline. He reared back and punched Verne right in the face with Counter. Luckily, Verne recovered quickly, flying up out of the Lycanroc's reach.

"Accelerock!"

Midday Lycanroc surrounded himself with a white aura and leaped into the air after Crobat with high speed. Crobat countered the move by crossing his wings again, this time a poison-purple 'X' appearing. The Bat Pokémon opened his wings, firing the Cross Poison at Midday Lycanroc. The Wolf Pokémon landed on the ground, a small group of purple bubbles appearing around his head.

Harold grit his teeth at the sight of one of his Lycanroc being poisoned, but he didn't bother to acknowledge the Pokémon's condition. "Use Crunch, both of you!"

Only Midnight Lycanroc was able to execute the move, as Midday Lycanroc was still struggling under the effect of the poison. Midnight Lycanroc aimed for Verne, but the Noivern smirked at him before flying up and revealing Crobat, whose teeth were glowing purple. The two Pokémon bit each other, with Crobat's same-type attack bonus (or STAB) Poison Fang dominating Midnight Lycanroc's Crunch. Midnight Lycanroc crashed to the ground, afflicted with the same purple bubbles as Midday Lycanroc.

Now they were both poisoned.

"Alright, let's finish this," Hiccup said, mostly to himself. The next thing he said was more out loud. "Crobat, you use Air Slash, and Verne, use Dragon Pulse!"

Both Pokémon nodded before launching their respective attacks. Crobat formed a light blue ball or aura in front of him, and sent light-blue crescents of aura from the ball towards Midday Lycanroc. Verne opened his mouth, a ball of multicolored energy forming in it, and fired a multicolored dragon-shaped beam of energy at Midnight Lycanroc.

Unexpectedly, Crobat and Verne's two attacks melded into one, the crescents from Air Slash being enveloped in the multicolored beam of Dragon Pulse.

There wasn't any time for either Lycanroc to dodge the attack.

Adhesive cheered as the attacks landed on the Wolf Pokémon. "How do you like that Air Pulse?"

"Wait," Snivels spoke up. "Perhaps Dragon Slash would be a better name."

Blaze shut her eyes and shook her head. "They both suck."

Harold's eyes flashed with anger as both Lycanroc tumbled over each other on the ground. "Get up!"

The two Wolf Pokémon strained to do as he commanded, but ended up falling back into the dirt. Harold reached somewhere behind him and pulled out a wooden bludgeon that looked like it had been used before. "I said get up, now!" He slammed the bludgeon against the palm of his free hand repeatedly, and the two Lycanroc looked back at him, their eyes filled with fear and sorrow.

The eyes of Pokémon who had been beaten before.

Who were used to it.

Who knew what was coming.

Who couldn't fight back.

Harold raised the bludgeon high, ready to strike the backs of the Wolf Pokémon when an invisible force suddenly knocked the weapon right out of his hand.

A Sobble materialized in front of the man, a burlap sack sitting precariously on his back. He reached his mouth into the sack, pulled out a cracker, and swallowed it in one gulp.

Hiccup stared wide-eyed at the not-very-timid Sobble. "Crackers?"

The Sobble nodded in confirmation, dropping the sack and charging at Harold. Before the man could blink, Crackers nailed him right in the gut, knocking the wind out of him.

Harold fell onto his back, with Crackers sitting on top and glaring at him. Which was not a normal look on a Sobble.

"Do they deserve to be abused?" Crackers's voice displayed none of the nervousness it usually had. When Harold didn't respond, Crackers asked more firmly, "Do **_we_** deserve to be abused?"

Harold shook his head, squeaking out, "No."

Crackers narrowed his eyes at the man. "But you deserve what's coming." He then jumped down, allowing Harold to get up. The man came face-to-face with two snarling Lycanroc, who lunged at him with their teeth and claws.

The man's screams were unworldly. All of Harold's henchmen released the people and Pokémon they'd been restraining and hightailed it out of the tent, terrified at the sight of their dying master.

Being one of the team members who was closer to what was happening, Hiccup shut his eyes tight and turned his head away.

But no matter what he did, Harold's dying screams would haunt him for the rest of his natural life.

* * *

All of the Pokémon Harold had captured and put in the wooden crates were released, some of them finding their trainers right away and reuniting with them. Others who had been held for a lot longer, or didn't have any trainer at all, stayed where they were in case someone came by to pick them up.

The Pokémon that didn't have owners were a female Bulbasaur that could use Sludge Bomb, a male Charmander that could use Dragon Breath, a Squirtle that could use Ice Beam, a Weedle that could use Electroweb, the Pidgey and Riolu Harold mentioned earlier that could use Heat Wave and Aura Sphere, respectively, a normal-colored Sableye that had an emerald in its chest instead of a ruby, a Beldum that knew more moves than just Take Down, and a Shiny female Swablu. They all ended up with Brandyn, who volunteered to look after and train them like the Legendary and Mythical Pokémon at the Resistance had done with him.

Crackers stood silently as he watched Brandyn bond with the otherwise ownerless Pokémon. Part of him was glad to be rid of Harold once and for all. But the rest was mortified.

A human had been killed in front of him. Regardless of Harold's greediness, hateful heart, and abusive hands, he was a human, and he was dead. Mauled by the Lycanroc that he had forced to get their claws and teeth dirty for him.

As it turned out, it was only a matter of time until the creatures that were abused by humans would fight back.

Crackers was soon joined by Snivels. "You okay?"

Knowing the Servine was talking to him, Crackers gave him a curt nod. "No. But I will be."

Snivels chuckled. "Well, you've certainly become more confident."

"And I'm proud of it," Crackers said. Then, slowly but surely, he smiled. Which looked rather good on him.

Nearby, Verne was conversing with Gladstone's Crobat. " _I don't suppose we'll be seeing each other again for a while._ "

Crobat shook his head. " _No, I don't believe so. Even then, I'm glad I fought that last battle alongside you._ "

" _So am I,_ " Verne said. " _Maybe our species aren't as competitive with each other as we thought._ "

Crobat's response to that was a quick strike of X-Scissor before he flew beyond Verne's reach. The Noivern sighed. " _Or maybe they are._ "

Hiccup and Gladstone had witnessed the whole thing, though they had no clue what their Pokémon were saying whatsoever. The older trainer turned to Hiccup. "Keep working with your Noivern. I can tell you've trained it well. Just try not to enter it into too many contests." Chuckling, Gladstone walked away.

That was the last anyone saw of him, or Crobat.

"I said it once," Snivels said with a smile. "And I'll say it again. Half-blood Pokémon are just as good as purebreds!"

Verne responded to his friend's statement with a croon.

Brandyn, meanwhile, approached a nervous-looking Heather. "You still up for getting a drink later? I know one place in the Ice Caves that serves the best hot cocoa."

Heather shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure, why not?"

"As long as it means we can head back," Adhesive stated, poking at his phone screen. "I've still got some binge-watching to do!"

Astrid and Blaze simultaneously facepalmed.

* * *

Hiccup reflected on the events of that day as he sat in his room at the Ice Caves. Crackers had been lucky to escape Harold's abuse and find a trainer like him.

The impatient warble and nuzzling of a particular Night Fury snapped him out of his reverie. Hiccup chuckled as he stroked Toothless's muzzle. "Don't worry, bud. The next mission we go on, you and all the other dragons are coming with us, no matter what."

That brought a smile to Toothless's face.

* * *

 _The bond between trainer and Pokémon is a powerful thing, even when those who don't believe in that strength try to break it. You know you can always count on your partners and friends, and they know they can always count on you._

* * *

 **I didn't know what else to do with Harold, so I just had the stupid idea of killing him off. It's not the first time a villain has died in the How to Become a Trainer series, and I can assure you it won't be the last.**

 **Also, the singers and bands Brandyn mentioned while searching on Adhesive's phone (with the exception of Clara Nightingale, since she's not a real person) are just a few of the artists whose songs I listen to.**

 **And for those who didn't catch it, Gladstone's name is supposed to be a reference to Gladion, who uses a Crobat in the games.**

 **One last thing. If you like HtTYD and Pokémon crossovers, go check out NightFuryRider98's story, "Trainers of Berk." I hate to admit it isn't as good as How to Become a Trainer, but I'm happy to know that my stories are inspiring other writers on this site.**

 **Reviews are appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The H-Men

 **You know those chapters you look forward to writing most when you plan a fanfiction? These next two are just a couple of mine.**

 **Hope you guys enjoy!**

* * *

 _Everyone has had a hero they look up to at some point in their lives. Some even have more than one hero._

 _I'm lucky enough to have a true hero as one of my best friends._

 _Snivels is always there for those who need him. Most would look at him and think there's nothing special. Like they used to with me._

 _I was the first to learn that there was more to Snivels than meets the eye. Living among dragons and other creatures who needed help, he would put his life on the line for those who had it harder than he did. He hasn't gone into too much detail of who or what he had to fight off, but it wasn't always easy being a hero everyone needed._

 _But he didn't ever slow down. Even today, Snivels keeps getting faster, and stronger. Anyone else would brag a little, but not Snivels._

 _Snivels always puts the needs of others before his own._

* * *

Snivels was up bright and early that morning. He was the kind of Pokémon that wanted to be ready for anything in case danger came up at the most unexpected moment. And he knew he had to keep himself in shape in order to make sure his skills and abilities were working to their full extent.

First he checked his running speed. He recruited Blaze and Ninjark to help him train. A race against Lockheed was the first test. The adolescent Speed Stinger took off running, but he was quickly out-sped by his adopted older brother. Lockheed watched with pride as Snivels ran past the line of rocks that was the finish line. "I think I just set a new record," Snivel said to himself.

A moment later, Snivels was standing next to Blaze, who was holding a megaphone. Ninjark was nearby with a list on a piece of wood dubbed "a clipboard" due to the metal clip at the top to keep the paper in place. Snivels got into a position showing he was ready to run, and Blaze nodded her head before lifting the megaphone to her mouth.

"GO!"

Snivels darted ahead, and was miles away in less than a second. A short moment later, Blaze's voice reached the spot where he was now standing.

" _GO!_ "

Then there was a loud booming sound. Snivels's eyes lit up. "Sonic boom!" He zipped back to where Blaze and Ninjark were standing. "Check sound off the list," he said. Ninjark nodded and checked the small box marked "yes" for "sound."

The next test was inside the Ice Caves Meal Room, empty for the time being, with Snivels ready to run while Blaze was holding an unlit torch. At Ninjark's signal, Snivels took off running toward the other side of the Meal Room while Blaze lit the torch with Flamethrower. Snivels looked behind him to see the light quickly catching up to him and tried to run faster, but the light streaked ahead of him, reaching the wall moments before he did. Snivels looked back at his friends.

"Sorry, guys. Light's just too darn fast!"

Ninjark checked off "no" for "light."

Next was the intelligence test. Adhesive hovered in front of Snivels asking him rapid-fire questions.

"What's the square root of 85,849?"

"293. Give me a hard one."

"What are the names of all the Eeveelutions that have been discovered so far?"

"Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon, Glaceon and Sylveon."

Blaze chuckled. "He's good."

Adhesive rubbed his tiny, digitless hands together in anticipation. "Alright, Snivster. What happens when the unstoppable force meets the immovable object?"

Snivels didn't even hesitate to answer that. "They surrender."

Adhesive promptly looked over his shoulder at Ninjark, who was still holding the clipboard. "Check intelligence off the list."

The Greninja did just that.

Now came the more unusual smelling test. Snivels's nose was more sensitive than most others of his species, and he was proud to treat that as one of his strengths. After making sure he couldn't see through the blindfold he was wearing, Snivels sat down in the middle of the room.

"Bring on the smells."

The burlap sacks containing objects of the foulest stenches were held at a least an arm's length as Blaze and Ninjark brought them in. Adhesive, Ra and Camazotz carried bags that had the more pleasant scents.

Listening carefully, Snivels waited until all the bags were on the floor in front of him until he started sniffing them, one by one. He flawlessly named all of the contents of each bag.

"Freshly baked malasadas, a dead fish, fresh cut grass, pine needles off of the icewood trees, which, I might add, is a species of plant that grow only around the Ice Caves, a bunch of fresh manure, a container of sour milk, that conditioner some of the girls have been using on their hair, fur, and feathers, a shirt reeking of body odor, and that last one is a combination of good and bad smells by placing a bunch of heavenly flowers on top of a large cube of stinky blue cheese."

Blaze and Ninjark stood wide-eyed and impressed.

The multilingual test was next.

"Alright, say something in Spanish," Adhesive politely requested.

Snivels gave him a look. " _¿Qué quieres que te diga?_ "

Knowing what the Servine was asking, Adhesive replied, "Just say the first thing that comes into your head. Now, how about German?"

" _Du bist ein großer Nerd,_ " was Snivels's reply.

Adhesive was not amused. "That's not funny. Latin?"

A small smile curled Snivels's lip. " _Draco furore noctis et Caeclarum psittacus._ "

"Nice choice," Adhesive complimented. "What about French?"

Snivels shook his head. "I don't know that one."

"Ironic," Adhesive muttered under his breath. He then asked out loud, "Can you give us some Dragonese?"

The Servine's next response was a series of grunts, growls, warbles, and croons only a dragon would understand. "Maybe now would be a good time to begin the Dragonology test," Ninjark said.

This time, Blaze was the one asking Snivels questions based on the subject. "So, Snivs, what category, or class, is the Night Fury in?"

"Strike Class," Snivels said immediately. "Though it was initially filed in the Mystery Class due to the Vikings not knowing much about the species."

"What special abilities do Sirens have?" Blaze asked, her arms folding across her chest in anticipation.

Snivels listed the Siren skills off of his fingers. "Sings hypnotic lullabies to lure in prey and enemies, fire doesn't require oxygen to burn, shapeshifting in the Monsters of Berk universe, eyes glow red when angry or afraid."

Adhesive jumped in with a genuine question. "How can you tell the difference between male and female dragons?"

Snivels shrugged. "Depends on the species. Female Deadly Nadders are typically more aggressive than the males, while the opposite is true for Monstrous Nightmares. There is one way that applies to all species, but it's much more disturbing. I'm lucky I'm able to identify the gender by scent rather than sight." He quickly added, "Identifying the age of a dragon also varies between species, since they all grow at different rates and have different ways of showing their age."

Blaze's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Alright, that's all I've got. Anyone else have an idea?"

"I can't think of any other tests," Ninjark said, equally defeated.

The looks on their faces got Snivels feeling all guilty. "You know, it's not in my intentions to make you guys feel bad. Besides, everyone's special in their own way, right?"

Blaze and Ninjark looked at each other and nodded. Then the three starters noticed a certain Poipole was mysteriously absent.

"Hey, where'd Adhesive go?"

* * *

The four Trainers of Destiny were feeding Ra, Camazotz, and the Pokémon they rescued from Harold a week before when a giddy Adhesive burst into the room.

"Guys, you are not gonna believe what just happened!"

Astrid rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Let me guess, you found another one of those moving pictures you love so much?"

"Moving pictures" was her way of saying "videos." Adhesive slumped his shoulders. "That's still not funny!" Then he bounced right back. "But that would be nice..." Especially a particular video he had watched every single day since it had been uploaded.

" _Well, this seems pretty perfect to me._ "

" _Yeah? Yeah, I guess it does._ "

"Mr. Adhesive?"

Camazotz's voice spoke over the Poipole's reminiscence of one of his favorite videos. "You were lost in Hiccstrid Land again."

"Huh?" Adhesive snapped back to reality. "Oh, right." He chuckled nervously. "So...we gave Snivels a bunch of tests for his skills, and he passed all of them with flying colors!"

As if on cue, Snivels entered the room. "Please, don't go bragging on my account. You know I don't like my friends feeling inferior to one another."

"Who's feeling inferior?" Hiccup asked, a bit off guard from his partner's statement.

Adhesive quickly jumped in to explain. "I think what he's trying to say is that he's afraid you're all jealous of him because of his enhanced abilities."

"Who's jealous?" asked Ra. "Camazotz and I have powers!" He struck a dramatic pose Snivels and Hiccup guessed was supposed to look heroic.

Brandyn shook his head. "Maybe, but your powers won't reach their full potential until you've fully evolved, remember?"

Both Cosmog deflated at that.

"Maybe they don't have to wait until then," Adhesive said. He flew out of the room and reappeared not long after, holding a book that was almost as big as he was. He handed the book to Heather, who read the title, which was written on the cover in several different languages.

 _Alchemy 101: 2018 Multilanguage Edition_

Stunned, the aspiring alchemist couldn't help but ask, "Where did you get this?"

"Ultra Megalopolis is set in a very technologically advanced future," Adhesive said, shrugging modestly. "I've got access to objects and events that have yet to happen or be invented in this timeline." He pointed to the alchemy book. "That textbook I used in college holds a recipe that, when consumed, enhances the abilities of any living creature. I call it the Power Potion!"

As interesting as that was, there was one thing about Adhesive's explanation that confused Hiccup. "What's college?"

Adhesive hesitated, mostly because he wasn't exactly sure how to explain the concept. "It's kinda like training, only with classrooms and written homework, and you're learning about stuff that can't get anyone killed. I graduated earlier this year and got right into training for the Ultra Guardians. Then you guys came around, one thing led to another, and I decided to become a Go-Getter instead."

Blaze and Ninjark had chosen that moment to walk into the room. "Did you really have to explain that much?" the Blaziken asked.

"He asked me a question," Adhesive said, pointing at Hiccup. "I might as well give the best answer I can."

As they were talking, Heather opened the alchemy book and started reading. At the end of each chapter within the textbook was a recipe for different mixtures that had different effects on certain creatures. She recognized the recipe for a mixture that protected the consumer from dark magic, which she had made for Team Go-Getters prior to a fight against Sarabeth, back during the Dragon Manual Incident. The recipe for the Power Potion was at the end of the second-to-last chapter of the book, undoubtedly meant for a more advanced alchemist.

Still, it was worth a shot.

Brandyn strained to get a good look at the recipe. The Pidgey from Harold's crates was perched on top his head, but he paid her no mind. "If you need a hand, I can help you mix it up," he offered. "The potion, I mean."

Heather could have sworn she felt her stomach do a flip. "Oh, um...sure, why not?"

"I'll help, too," Ninjark said quickly.

Ra and Camazotz floated around the couple eagerly. "Us, too! Us, too!"

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Hiccup asked no one in particular.

* * *

Snivels and Adhesive were the only ones waiting outside the Ice Caves Lab, where Heather, Ninjark, Brandyn and the two Cosmog were working on the Power Potion. The Poipole couldn't help but poke his head in through the door. "Is it ready yet?"

"We're still working on it," Ninjark replied. No sooner after he said that, Heather asked Brandyn to hand her an ingredient.

"Potassium bicarbonate?"

Brandyn promptly handed her a cup filled with a white powdery substance, which Heather then sprinkled into a large, bubbling cauldron they had found in the lab.

"Ammonium thiosulphate?"

This time, Ra and Camazotz handed her the ingredient, carrying it together with the wisp-like extensions that served as arms.

Snivels peeked in next. "Look, guys, I'm really don't think this is necessary. I don't like my friends being jealous of me, and I don't like them consuming stuff found in alchemy books."

"We're trying to work here," Heather uttered, frustrated that their project was being interrupted. However, much to her chagrin, Toothless came out of nowhere, nosing his way through the door and looking around the room.

The Night Fury warbled at Snivels, who looked at him wide-eyed. "What do you mean, 'where's Hiccup?' I thought you were with him!"

"Alright, that's it!" a very annoyed Heather shouted, her voice almost resembling Astrid's. "Everyone out!"

Snivels, Toothless and Adhesive quickly left the room, the Servine shutting the door behind them.

Now calm, Heather adjusted her safety goggles. "What's the final ingredient?" she asked.

Brandyn scanned the recipe in the book. He found the last ingredient on the list and read it aloud.

"A sample of the intended consumer's deoxyribonucleic acid."

A confused Ninjark looked at his trainer. "What does that even mean?"

"I don't know," Heather admitted. "I've never heard of that before."

Brandyn closed the alchemy book before putting on a pair of gloves and lifting the cauldron off of its pedestal. He then grabbed several cups and dipped them into the mixture. When he was sure he had the right number of cups, he pulled out a strand of his blonde hair and dropped it into one of the containers. Heather and Ninjark watched in amazement as the mixture rapidly changed colors until it finally settled on a brownish-gold.

The Cosmog were next. A sample from each of their wisps turned two of the other potions orangish-yellow for Ra and bluish-purple for Camazotz.

Now understanding what the final ingredient was, Heather added one of her own hairs to one of the remaining cups of the incomplete mixtures. Her potion turned bright green.

Following his trainer's example, Ninjark wiped some saliva off of his long tongue and dropped it into one of the other incomplete potions. His mixture changed between different shades of blue before settling on a darker shade.

Brandyn went over to the door that was the only entrance and exit to the lab and opened it. Adhesive was "pacing" back and forth through the air impatiently until he noticed the door was open. Smiling, Brandyn handed the Poipole two of the remaining three cups of the incomplete mixtures. "Take those to Astrid and Blaze," the trainer explained. "They need samples of their DNA to be complete."

Adhesive nodded in understanding before flying off, being careful not to spill any of the potion.

Brandyn then handed the last cup of the incomplete potion to Snivels. "This one's for Hiccup."

"We just have to find him, first," Snivels said, exchanging looks with an anxious Toothless.

* * *

The Servine-Night Fury duo ended up finding their friend in the resistance Forge, thanks to Snivels's enhanced sense of smell. The one-legged hero was working with Hephaestus, a Heatran, on what he said was an important project.

Hephaestus noticed the Servine and Night Fury first. "Ah, visitors. Come on in, don't be shy."

Snivels stayed underneath Toothless's wing as they walked in. The heat from the forge was rather comforting compared to the usually biting cold of the Ice Caves, but that didn't mean Snivels was interested in getting burned. "So, what's going on in here?" asked the Prince of Pokémon.

"Well, what do you think?" was Hiccup's only reply. He showed Snivels and Toothless a shield that looked like it was made out of silver, with the image of a Night Fury with a red left tailfin painted on it.

Snivels looked confused. "What was wrong with your old shield?"

Hiccup shook his head and chuckled a little. "This isn't just a shield." As if on cue, the center of the shield opened up, and a retractable grappling rope shot out and wrapped around Snivels. Before the Servine had time to register what had happened, the line reeled him in, pinning him to the shield Hiccup was holding on to.

Both trainer and Pokémon looked at each other awkwardly before Snivels broke the silence. "Well, this is somewhat humiliating."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Hiccup said. He got to work untangling Snivels and retracting the cable back into the shield.

"I should probably be apologizing, too," Snivels uttered.

Having heard his partner's statement, Hiccup couldn't help but ask, "For what?"

"This," Snivels said, lashing out and plucking one of Hiccup's hairs. He ignored his trainer's sudden cry in pain and confusion as he let the single strand of hair fall into the cup he was still holding. The potion bubbled a little, then shifted through every color imaginable before settling at a rather unattractive black. "That's interesting," Snivels muttered to himself before handing the cup to his trainer.

Hiccup eyed the concoction suspiciously. "This wouldn't have anything to do with what Adhesive was talking about earlier, would it?"

"Yes, yes it does," said the always-honest Snivels. "Just think of it as an experiment of sorts."

Hephaestus, who couldn't help overhearing, joined in. "Like the draconium we've been working with."

"Draconium?" Snivels repeated in confusion.

The Heatran gestured to Hiccup's shield with his head. "Got that metal for the shield straight from a Gronckle's mouth. Literally. Hiccup and I came up with a name for the metal together."

Hiccup continued to stare at the liquid in the cup he was holding. Truth was, he had gotten rather thirsty while working in the forge, but he wasn't so sure about going through with whatever "experiment" Snivels and Adhesive were performing. Finally deciding that it was worth a shot, Hiccup lifted the cup to his lips and drank its contents.

Snivels watched with interest as his trainer downed the last of the potion. Hiccup shuddered a little at the taste, but nothing else seemed to happen. "Do you feel any different?" Snivels asked.

Hiccup waited a moment before providing his answer. "Surprisingly, no." He lowered the cup. "But it's not really a drink I like the taste of. Reminds me of raw fish." He shuddered again, this time at the memory of having to eat raw fish back when he and Toothless were still getting acquainted.

A loud noise from somewhere in the Ice Caves made them all jump. It was the sound of objects crashing and breaking.

"Something tells me the other guys drank their potions, too," Snivels said to himself.

* * *

The Servine couldn't have been more right. Hiccup, Snivels and Toothless walked into one of the large training rooms in the Ice Caves to find what was pretty close to utter chaos.

One of the Cosmog, which Hiccup guessed was Ra, had honest-to-Arceus _lasers_ coming out of his eyes. The beams were a mix of red and yellow, hot as the sun, and cutting through everything Ra looked at. Luckily, he was only able to keep the lasers going for as long as he wanted them to, as he quickly shut them off when he came close to hitting Stormfly, who was watching from the side along with Windshear and Buck.

Camazotz's powers were more calm. She was creating energy constructs, or solid objects that shone like the moon which she could control telekinetically. It was mostly simple tools like forks and spoons, but Hiccup spotted a few shields of different form among the objects.

Ninjark, meanwhile, was spontaneously teleporting any and everywhere possible. Every now and then, he'd end up on the wall, but didn't slip down. He stuck there like his hands and feet were glued to the wall.

Blaze, Astrid and Brandyn seemed to have more control over their powers. The Blaziken was tossing around balls of fire that materialized in her hands, occasionally calling them back so she could catch them. Brandyn's powers were less spontaneous, he was more agile with a bit of enhanced strength, but his main ability was his precision with projectile weapons. Knives, axes, bow and arrow, every weapon he used hit its target, even when he threw it while standing backwards.

Compared to the rest, however, Astrid was making the absolute most of her new powers. In addition to super strength, she now had the ability to psychically control her axe. Anywhere she wanted it to go, it would obey her without hesitation. Hiccup had to duck to avoid being hit with the double-bladed weapon.

Snivels marveled in what was transpiring before noticing that someone was missing. "Where's Heather?"

"I'm right here," said a voice.

Everyone looked around in confusion until Heather suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "I was invisible! Cool, right?"

"Cool is an understatement," Adhesive said as he floated down. He'd been watching from above. "I mean, you guys were already cool enough, and now you've all got superpowers!"

Hiccup looked nervous. "Well, most of us, anyway."

The Poipole flew over to Snivels, confusion etched on his facial features. "You gave him the potion, right?"

"Yes," Snivels answered. "I grabbed one of his hairs and put it in the mixture, but it turned black, and, when he drank it, nothing happened."

Heather looked thoughtful. "Odd. Maybe that color means it doesn't have an effect on him."

Toothless didn't seem so sure about that. One quick whiff of Hiccup's scent got him snorting with discomfort. Curious, Snivels also sniffed his trainer. "He does have an incredibly complex, yet familiar, aroma..."

"Where have you all been?"

Everyone in the room turned to see Kickin' Hawk standing in the doorway, his arms folded across his chest. "Fjord called us all for a meeting an hour ago. Word's been sent that the Outcasts are planning to attack Berk and who knows what else."

"We'll be right there," Hiccup said quickly. "We just need to...make a few adjustments, and then we'll be on our way." He chuckled as the Hawlucha eyed him suspiciously before leaving the room. As soon as Kickin' Hawk was out of hearing distance, Hiccup turned to Heather. "Please tell me the Power Potion comes with some sort of emergency antidote."

"He has a point," Brandyn said. "Who knows what'll happen if the wrong people, like the Outcasts, find out we have powers."

"They'll try to find a way to use them for their own evil purposes," Adhesive drawled. "Happens all the time. Luckily for you guys, the effects of the potions in the alchemy textbook are all temporary, so your powers will eventually wear off all by themselves." Then he brightened up a little. "But, you know, if you guys are actually planning to use these powers at any time, you need superhero names." He pointed to Ra and Camazotz. "Like, you two could be Solarizer and Lunarizer!"

"Why not let them choose what their hero names are going to be?" Snivels suggested. "I'm thinking of something along the lines of Leafstrike."

"I thought Serpent was your superhero name," Blaze said skeptically.

Adhesive shook his head. "That's only for when he was wearing the Snake Miraculous."

"Well, if Snivels can pick out his own name, then that's what I'm doing," Blaze said with a smile. "I don't know about you guys, but I like the name Heatwave."

Astrid liked where her partner was going. "I wanted to be a Valkyrie when I was little, so that's what my name's going to be."

"I kinda like the sound of Marksman," Brandyn said, twirling a knife in his hand before throwing it over his shoulder. The weapon hit the center of a painted wooden target dead-on.

Heather smiled slyly as she faded from view. "Just call me Invisi-Girl."

Ninjark's superhero name came with a sort of backstory. "There's a culture I know that associates frogs with ninjas in a story known as 'The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya.' I think I'll call myself Jiraiya."

Hiccup just stayed silent. Why bother coming up with a superhero name for someone who had no powers?

Adhesive laughed joyfully. "Alright, now that's what I'm talking about! You guys are like...like..." He thought for a few seconds before having a brainstorm. "The H-Men!"

That earned him skeptical looks from all who were present in the room.

"The H is for Haddock," the Poipole explained. "You know, since Hiccup's kinda like the de facto leader and all?"

Hiccup shrugged. "It's a start..." He headed for the hallway, with Toothless following. "Let's get going before Fjord and Kickin' Hawk get any angrier than they probably are already."

Seeing as there was nothing else to do, the H-Men did just that.

* * *

Snivels didn't really pay much attention to what Fjord was saying to the rest of Team Go-Getters. He had gotten rather concerned about his friends consuming the Power Potion.

Amber noticed her mate standing off to the side and went to comfort him. "You okay, Snivsie?"

"I think I may have made a mistake," Snivels replied sadly. "I never liked showing off much, and I was afraid of my friends being jealous of me, so I helped orchestrate something kinda stupid."

Adhesive joined the Servine-Charmeleon couple. "It's not that stupid, it was an experiment. Besides, the whole thing was my idea, anyway. Plus, the effects of the Power Potion are only temporary, so their powers will eventually wear off on their own."

"See?" Amber said. "This isn't your fault, Snivels. We all know you were trying to help." As she spoke, all the other Pokémon Hiccup had befriended approached the couple. Verne and Spike nuzzled Snivels, Tito patted the Servine's shoulders, Crackers offered him a cracker he'd been planning to eat himself, Kickin' Hawk gave him a gentle noogie, Chomper nibbled at his tail, Mawnan perched on top of his head (with difficulty since his glasses were still yet to be fixed), and Buddy lay down next to him while making a sound reminiscent of purring.

Snivels cheered up a little at all that. "I guess I was trying to help them see what it's like for me to have these abilities." He shifted his gaze to Hiccup, who was leaning against the wall and trying to hide a look of disappointment in himself. "I just this all doesn't blow up in our faces."

* * *

 **Any of you who need translations for what Snivels said, they're listed below.**

 **¿Qué quieres que te diga? - What do you want me to say?  
** **Du bist ein großer Nerd - You are a big nerd.  
** **Draco furore noctis et Caeclarum psittacus - Night Fury and Deadly Nadder (roughly translated, the Deadly Nadder's Latin name belongs to Cottonmouth25)**

 **So yes, Adhesive is technically from the future by Viking Age standards. You can expect him to be making references not only to stuff from other worlds, but also to things that have yet to happen in the HtBaT timeline.**

 **Which name do you guys think is better: Gronckle Iron or draconium?**

 **Anyway, Happy Halloween!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Dreki

 **"Dreki" is Old Norse for "dragon." The plural form is "drekar." Just an FYI.**

 **Hope you all had a happy Halloween!**

* * *

While it was nice to be out in the open air, Team Go-Getters was having little to no luck finding any sign of any Outcast ships.

Always the impatient one, Basan the Torchic grumbled, "Are we there yet?" Stormfly's son, Thorntail, who Basan was riding, squawked, also impatient.

Kickin' Hawk, who was gliding without the aid of a dragon, forced himself to look ahead to avoid glaring at his and Blaze's youngest son. "We get there when we get there!"

"Maybe we should split up," Hiccup suggested. "We'll cover more ground. If anyone finds anything, fire a shot in the air."

No one else had a better idea, so the team went along with it. Unfortunately, no one ended up finding any sign of any Outcasts that day.

The sun was setting as Hiccup and Toothless led the team back to the Ice Caves. "Well, that was a complete waste of time," muttered Hiccup.

"Not a single Outcast boat found!" exclaimed Astrid, incredulous. "And we doubled back over the same area five times!"

"That wasn't the only problem we had," Brandyn mused, tapping his fingers against the strap of his arrow quiver. "Some of us had some trouble controlling our new powers." He cast an eye at Ra, who was napping with Camazotz in the saddlebag attached to Buck's saddle.

"I don't get it," Hiccup sighed. "Even if the Outcasts sent out only a few ships, we would have found them for sure."

Snivels flew up on Verne. "I never caught any scent of them," the Servine said. "They have to be somewhere else."

Hiccup eyed the sun setting over the horizon. "Wherever they may be, we'll have to continue our search tomorrow."

Blaze and Wavern flew up to Adhesive. "How long before our powers wear off?" the Blaziken asked.

"Honestly, it could be any time within the next twenty-four hours," Adhesive said, shrugging.

The rest of the flight to the Ice Caves was in silence.

* * *

A roar could be heard throughout the Ice Caves, heralding the return of Hiccup and Team Go-Getters. Toothless was the first through the entrance, folding his wings over his back as he landed. The other dragons and Dragon-type Pokémon followed, and their riders dismounted, all of them with sullen looks on their faces.

Fjord didn't have to ask for the results. "Well, there's always a chance we heard the message wrong. Why don't you all turn in for the night? I'm sure your powers will have worn off by morning."

Hiccup had made the choice of informing Fjord about the H-Men's temporary abilities during the meeting earlier. Especially since the Kyurem would have found out about it eventually.

"I think I'll just work on my shield for a little while," the leader of Team Go-Getters said to no one in particular. He left for the forge, a concerned Toothless following.

Astrid watched her husband leave. "He's normally not that upset after a patrol," she said. "Even when we don't find anything."

"Maybe you should go check on him," Heather suggested. Then her eyes lit up and she turned herself invisible. "Or I can sneak in and see what's up."

Brandyn shook his head. "I think it'd be best if we leave him be for a while," he said. "I may not know Hiccup as well as you all do, but I'm sure he'll come around eventually."

Heather dropped her invisibility. "I was kidding." She added quietly, "Mostly."

* * *

It took a while, but Hiccup managed to finish his shield so that it was the way he wanted it to be. If activated correctly, the shield could be converted into a crossbow, from which any projectile could be launched.

Toothless paced back and forth as he watched his trainer work. Every now and then, Hiccup would ask him to add a plasma blast to the forge fire, but otherwise there wasn't much else for the Night Fury to do.

"There," Hiccup muttered to himself as he examined the shield. "I think it's done."

Toothless crooned tiredly. He was just about ready to fall asleep.

Hiccup leaned his shield against the wall and started to leave, Toothless following eagerly. The shield was definitely an improvement compared to most of the other weapons Hiccup had made over the years, back when he was trying to be more like a Viking. The poor boy could still hear the insults of the villagers in his head.

" _What a disappointment._ "

" _I have never seen anyone mess up that badly!_ "

" _Is this some kind of a joke to you?!_ "

" _Stop being all of you!_ "

" _You're always messing everything up for everyone!_ "

" _You've thrown your lot in with them. You're not a Viking. You're not my son._ "

Hiccup clenched his fist tightly, there was something stirring inside him, it felt hot and heavy, like a fireball in his belly. He breathed deep and loud, hoping to calm his nerves. Toothless noticed his rider's condition and warbled worriedly. He nosed Hiccup's hand, but it remained clenched in a fist.

"Worthless," he muttered, his eyes shut tight. "That's what they all called me. No matter how much I try to forget, I can still hear them. Mocking me. Hurting me. Just once, I want them to know what it's like to be treated like that. How it feels to be...useless!" The more he spoke, the more the fire grew. Never in all the years he'd been teased and frowned upon had he felt so...so...

Angry.

Hiccup's eyes suddenly shot open, but they were different. Greener than usual, with slit pupils.

Dragon's eyes.

"Wh-what's happening to me?"

His voice was now a deep, guttural growl.

Toothless ran and cowered underneath a nearby table as Hiccup began to change. The boy fell to hands and knees, gritting his teeth. His fingernails lengthened into claws, scales as black as night traveled up his arms and onto his clothing. Even his prosthetic leg was changing, becoming a set of dragon talons along with his one remaining foot. His scrawny form was replaced with the bulk of dragon muscles, a pair of wings erupting from his back and a tail extending from behind him. His face was the last thing to change. His hair retreated into his scalp as a pair of horns took their place, his teeth became fangs, and his mouth and nose elongated into a snout. Hiccup screamed, but it soon became a roar.

A reasonably frightened Toothless cowered further underneath the table where he was hiding. Whatever Hiccup had become, he didn't want to been seen by it.

The dragon blasted a stream of fire from his mouth. He stomped out of the room on his two sturdy legs, his tail dragging behind him. The dragon examined his hands, now resembling talons, a sneer curling his snout. "Hiccup _did_ get a superpower!" he growled, clenching his fist once again. "Now I can show them all what it's like to be hurt! Hurt like I was!"

The dragon that was once Hiccup spread his wings and took off flying through the tunnels and out into the open air.

Still hiding underneath the table, Toothless crooned out an unheard cry for help.

* * *

A fleet of ships was sailing across the sea, nearing their destination quickly with the wind pushing at their sails. As the isle of Berk began to peek out from the horizon, the captain of the vessel chuckled to himself.

"There it is!" laughed Alvin the Treacherous. "Now we just gotta sneak in and make off with as many dragons as possible!"

"And with the Berkians all asleep, snug in their beds," Savage piled on, "They won't notice a thing until we're long gone!"

Alvin's Dusknoir, Hyde, groaned alongside his master's evil laughter. Whether out of anticipation or dread, no one could tell for sure.

They were so busy chuckling over their plan that none of them noticed the pair of eyes in the cloudy and dark sky far above them and their boats. Those eyes didn't need ears to know what was going on down there.

"Outcasts," the dragon growled to himself. Deciding that taking his anger out on those who hurt him on Berk could wait for a little while, he dove upon the unsuspecting Outcasts.

Speaking of which... "Alvin, do you hear something? Like wind?"

"You don't say," the Outcast leader answered skeptically. "I've never heard of wind at sea on a day like this!

"No sir, you don't understand!" Savage protested. "It sounds like something's flying toward us!"

Alvin considered that. "Well...now that you mention it..."

Then the dragon flew past them out of nowhere with a roar reminiscent of a Thunderdrum. Next came the fire, which burned any part of the ships it touched, sending the Outcasts into a panic.

"You fools!" snarled Alvin. "Don't just run around like a bunch of chickens! Fight him off like I trained you to do!"

However, the soldiers had all been trained to do battle with ordinary dragons. This dragon was far from ordinary. He raised his tail and fired a flurry of spines, like those of a Deadly Nadder, at the soldiers, pinning a few of them to the masts of their ships. Any and all crossbow arrows and boulders launched from the crossbows and catapults bounced harmlessly off of his hard scales and thick hide. The same went for the Flamethrower attacks from their many Houndoom.

Deciding he'd delayed his assault long enough, the dragon moved in for the finishing blow. It was the perfect opportunity, as the Outcasts were out of ammo for their crossbows and catapults.

The dragon dove down again, this time plowing right through the structure of the ships. Horns and claws sliced through wood and metal as if they were made of butter, and in no time at all the ships were all reduced to driftwood floating at the mercy of the ocean waves.

By the time the Outcasts resurfaced, the dragon was already moving on. Alvin clutched a piece of driftwood, fuming as he watched the flying reptile head for Berk. "Not one word about this!"

Savage, also grabbing driftwood, sighed, "This isn't really the first time we've been beaten by a dragon, sir."

Hyde dunked Savage's head under the water. The three of them remained in bad moods for the entirety of their long journey home.

* * *

The dragon could hear the bustling sounds ahead of him as the people of Berk awoke with the rising sun. It was only a matter of time before someone spotted him. And that someone turned out to be the village scout. Deciding to have a little fun while he was there, the dragon fired a single tail spine at the scout, who scurried down from his post fearfully, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Dreki!"

The word "dreki" was used on Berk to warn of an oncoming dragon raid, back before the Red Death's defeat.

The dragon smiled at the sound of the scout's screaming. _I like the sound of that,_ he thought to himself. _Dreki. That's_ _my name._

The scout continued to run, heading for the Great Hall. "Dreki!" he shouted, louder than last time.

Inside the Great Hall, Stoick was about to take a gulp of his morning mead when he heard the frightened cries of the scout. "No one's shouted that word since the war," the chief said, his brows furrowed.

"Seems like forever since I last heard it," Gobber said. "What, with all the forge work that had to be done then."

A loud banging sound got their attention as the doors to the Great Hall burst open. Everyone in the building turned to see the dragon standing in the doorway, his hulking figure towering over even Stoick.

Dreki padded forward on his two taloned feet, his green eyes shifting over every figure in the hall. He found Stoick and his Beartic, Brumous, near the center of the hall and stomped towards them. The chief and his partner didn't show any fear whatsoever, even with the dragon staring the both of them down . Dreki stood a few feet away from Stoick, his green eyes narrowed in anger.

"You."

Several children hid behind their mother's legs at the sound of Dreki's deep, intimidating snarl.

"You hurt people," Dreki snarled. His eyes were locked with Stoick's, oblivious to everyone else in the hall. "You hurt dragons. You hurt everyone! And what for? A stupid little vendetta you've been holding for so many years? You hurt more people than you ever helped. You threw your son away like trash. You never listened to anyone's ideas but your own. You're no chief. You're a coward!"

Stoick subtly reached behind himself for a hammer he had brought with him to the Great Hall.

"You should have been left to die on that island," Dreki continued. "Your son shouldn't have saved you, he should have let the Red Death destroy you! Face it, chief, you're worth more dead than you are alive."

With that, Dreki turned to leave. And if Stoick hadn't swung the hammer at him, he would have left peacefully. Much to the chief's surprise, however, the hammer shattered into several tiny pieces as soon as it slammed against Dreki's back. There was no bruise or cut to indicate the anthropomorphic dragon had sustained any damage from the blow.

Dreki turned and grabbed Stoick's wrist, his eyes flashing dangerously. "You just made a very big mistake, fool." He twisted hard, snapping Stoick's wrist like it was a toothpick. The chief yelled out in pain, the handle of the shattered hammer falling from his grasp.

The Great Hall erupted into pandemonium. Women clambered against each other as they hastily escorted their children out through the doors while every abled man grabbed a weapon and charged at Dreki. No one knew who swung the sword that started the rampage, but Dreki soon turned on all the villagers, the anger Hiccup had kept bottled up inside for so many years fueling his fire.

Soldiers scrambled for the exit as Dreki picked Stoick up by the wrist and started swinging the chief around like a bludgeon. Brumous rose up on his hind legs and swung his paws at Dreki, but the angry dragon easily threw the Beartic aside. Brumous went flying through the doors of the Great Hall before he slammed headfirst into the pillar of a large torch and was knocked out cold.

The dragon easily pushed past all the men, clawing at the pillars that kept the Great Hall standing. The men barely made it out in time before the mighty building crumbled and collapsed to the ground.

Stoick struggled against Dreki's grip, kicking at the dragon's legs. Dreki responded by slugging him in the gut and throwing him into the village forge. Weapons and shields clattered to the floor as the chief flew through the window and slammed into the wall.

The sight of the unconscious chief and Pokémon partner prompted all of the Pokémon indoors, away from the rampaging dragon. Sadly, they were pretty much the only ones on the island who were smart enough to know this was a fight they couldn't win.

"Hey!"

The sudden shout caught Dreki's attention. He turned to find an overconfident Snotlout and a very reasonably anxious Fishlegs standing a few dozen feet away. The Jorgenson boy was wielding a mace. "You wanna mess with a Viking? Try me!"

A smirk curling his snout, Dreki charged straight at the duo.

Fishlegs whimpered, "Snotlout, I think this is a bad idea!"

"Quiet, Guppylegs!" Snotlout snapped.

The Ingerman turned out to be right. Dreki raised his claws to swipe at them, prompting Snotlout to bring up his mace in defense. Needless to say, Dreki sliced through his weapon like it was a twig.

Stunned, Snotlout watched the spike-balled end of the mace fall to the ground before throwing the blunt end of the weapon at the dragon. The broken piece of wood bounced harmlessly off of Dreki's scales. The dragon growled threateningly at Snotlout.

"Goodbye," squeaked Fishlegs before he took off running in the other direction, leaving a terrified Snotlout at the mercy of the angry dragon.

* * *

"What do you mean the Outcast ships have been destroyed?" Astrid asked, her eyes wide in shock.

"I mean they've been destroyed," Fjord replied. "Something attacked them, and apparently it was some kind of dragon."

Toothless suddenly bounded in, his eyes still wide from what he had witnessed the night before. Snivels listened to the dragon's warbling, his eyes widening at what he heard.

* * *

Back on Berk, Snotlout was frantically running around and screaming like a three-year-old girl, desperate to get away from the rampaging Dreki. The dragon was firing a multitude of tail spines and concussive roars, not to hurt Snotlout, but to let him know what was coming.

"Hookfang! A little help?!" he cried out to the Monstrous Nightmare. Hookfang just snorted as if to say, " _Don't go crying to me, you brought this on yourself._ "

Dreki quickly caught the Jorgenson, grabbing the back of his shirt and lifting him off the ground effortlessly. Snotlout found himself staring into the angry dragon's eyes, which he was sure would haunt his nightmares for the rest of his natural life.

Not wasting any time, Dreki hit Snotlout right in his most sensitive area before throwing him aside like a rag doll. Snotlout curled into the fetal position, clutching his sensitive area, which was throbbing with intense pain.

Dreki would have up and left right then if he hadn't felt something slam into his back. He turned around to find Snivels picking himself up off the ground, having fallen over after colliding with the anthropomorphic dragon.

"Sorry," Snivels murmured. Then he froze at the sight of the intimidating dragon.

Dreki quietly growled. He seemed a little reluctant, but he lowered his head and snarled threateningly at the Servine.

Snivels didn't show any fear whatsoever. "Hiccup, I know it's you." He wasn't speaking loud enough for any of the villagers to hear, since he didn't know what would happen if they found out who Dreki really was. "The rest of the team is on their way right now, just try to calm down."

 _Please,_ said a voice somewhere in Dreki's mind. _Listen to him. Listen to your friend. He won't hurt you, and you'd never hurt him._

Dreki may have had control over his body, but Hiccup was still in there. The shock of the sudden transformation had kept him from speaking out to himself, but he was talking now.

Slowly, Dreki's expression softened and he crouched, his eyes leveling with Snivels's. He let out a noise that sounded a lot like a Night Fury's purr.

Then the moment was ruined by a flurry of axes, maces and hammers from the desperate villagers bouncing off of Dreki's scales and thick hide. Snarling, Dreki flew over to the forge, reached in through the window and grabbed some weapons. Snivels watched his transformed friend wield the weapons, remembering Gobber's words from the night Toothless had been shot down.

" _You can't lift a hammer..._ "

Dreki lifted up a very large hammer with ease, using it to knock away some of the bulkier Vikings.

" _You can't swing an axe..._ "

Dreki set the hammer down, grabbing a pair of axes and swinging them, deflecting the projectiles that were being thrown at him.

" _You can't even throw one of these!_ "

As the Vikings started to retreat, Dreki dropped the axes and picked up a bola, throwing it at the Vikings with ease. The weapon snared one of the men's legs, causing him to fall to the ground with a dull thud.

A blast of fire suddenly burst against Dreki's head. Eyes flashing with anger, he looked up to see scores of dragons and Dragon-type Pokémon, all with a member of Team Go-Getters riding on their backs, descending upon him.

Dreki roared, nearly bursting Snivels's eardrums, and reared up. The spines on his back and tail glowed a faint orange before he blasted his own fire right at them. The dragons scattered to avoid the blast, but the Grapple Grounders didn't move fast enough and ended up getting singed. Buck and Brandyn tumbled out of the sky and onto the ground, bruised but alive.

Astrid landed Stormfly in the plaza and quickly dismounted, throwing her axe at Dreki. The dragon easily dodged it. Then, to his surprise, the axe changed direction in midair and came flying at him from behind.

The other H-Men still had their powers.

Not wasting a moment, Dreki caught the handle of the axe. But the weapon didn't stop. It kept flying by, dragging him with it through the air and into some of the buildings throughout the village. Finally, Dreki let go, and the axe went flying back into the hands of its owner.

Before the dragon could lunge for Valkyrie, he felt something tickling his nose. He looked down to find Xylia holding some dragon nip under his snout. Instead of relaxing, however, Dreki sneezed, and the blades of grass went flying all over the place.

Dreki was steaming with rage now. He had Kickin' Hawk trying to hold him in a headlock, but the dragon easily shook him off and raised his arms to punch him.

"Dreki smash!"

The Hawlucha barely managed to avoid his fists, and he ended up slamming the ground, causing a minor quake.

A black streak zoomed over the ocean, accompanied by the sound of shrieking. Toothless swooped in, with Ebony helping him fly by acting as his tail. The female held on tight to her mate's tail, steering them both with her own tail. Both Night Furies fired a plasma blast, but Dreki shielded himself with his wings.

Things got worse when Dreki felt something scratching him under the chin. Feeling around, he grabbed an invisible arm and threw the person aside. Invisi-Girl cried out as she went flying, visible once again, but fortunately she ended up landing in Brandyn's arms. The two locked eyes and blushed.

Heatwave and Jiraiya attacked next. The Greninja teleported here and there, firing Water Shurikens from every direction. The Blaziken, meanwhile, launched a Flamethrower before manipulating it with her potion-given pyrokinesis. Of course, Dreki's scales were fireproof, so Blaze's powers didn't affect him at all. Several of Ninjark's Water Shurikens hit his head, dampening it. But even with his head wet, he could still use his fire. Blistering heat burst through the area as Dreki's scales ignited like a Monstrous Nightmare's. He then unleashed a flurry of tail spines, now aflame, which Blaze and Ninjark barely avoided.

Now came Solarizer and Lunarizer. Ra with his laser eyes, and Camazotz making energy constructs resembling arrows and knives. The energy constructed weapons bounced harmlessly off of Dreki's scales and the laser eyes missed him completely. He took a breath, ready to fire, when a stream of fire came out of nowhere and blasted down his throat.

Amber, who had fired the Flamethrower into Dreki's mouth, dismounted Ebony as she and Toothless landed nearby. Her fire didn't have the desired effect, as Dreki swallowed it down and fired a blast of his own fire at them, which they barely avoided.

Dreki found himself surrounded by the entire team, each member determined yet cautious.

Snivels had been watching the fight from his hiding place behind the food storage shed. It wasn't hard for him to notice a connection with Dreki's powers. Whispering Deaths were immune to the effects of dragon nip, and so was Dreki. Gronckles didn't like being scratched under the chin, and neither did Dreki. Scauldrons and Thunderdrums were aquatic dragons, so Dreki could still breathe fire when he got wet. Fireworms consumed firecomb gel, or fire in general, without any harm, and so could Dreki.

Eyes lighting up with realization, Snivels ran out past Dreki. He found Astrid about to throw her axe at the dragon again and stopped her. "No! It won't work!"

All of Team Go-Getters, including Dreki, stopped the fight and listened.

"His powers are based on the dragons he's encountered," Snivels explained. "The combined strengths of certain species are canceling out a normal dragon's weaknesses!"

Astrid lowered her axe, eyeing Dreki. "Then we'll have to try something else."

Heather tried to turn invisible, but instead she ended up only fading in and out of sight. "I can still see myself," she said, looking at her hands.

"Your powers are wearing off!" Adhesive exclaimed in despair. "Someone do something, quick!"

Dreki started forward, snarling. But before he could reach them, Hiccup spoke out to him again. _No! Don't hurt them! They're my friends! They're YOUR friends!_ Dreki stopped, uncertain. "They hurt me," he mumbled. Then he spread his wings and took off, heading in the direction of the forest.

Watching the dragon leave, Astrid took Snivels aside. "That was Hiccup, wasn't it?"

Snivels nodded wordlessly.

"Get everyone back to the Ice Caves," she ordered. "I'll deal with Dreki."

* * *

Dreki didn't stop flying until he reached the cove. Spotting the area where Hiccup had bonded with Toothless, the dragon swooped in and landed near the pond. He sat down, staring at his reflection in the water.

The sound of wingbeats alerted him to the arrival of Astrid and Toothless, but he didn't bother to look up at them. The Night Fury landed not far from where Dreki was sitting, and allowed Astrid to dismount him.

"Why are you here?" asked Dreki, avoiding her eyes. "You hurt me, too, you know."

"I did hurt you," Astrid confirmed. She approached him slowly, in case he planned on lashing out, stopping when she was a few feet away. "And I've never regretted anything more than that. I know how you feel, Dreki. All of that anger, it makes you do things you'd never do otherwise. I've made that mistake several times. I hurt the one I care about most. You don't have to."

Dreki finally looked at her. His pupils were dilated, showing that he was calm. He stood and turned toward her, but made no move to attack.

Astrid took that as a sign to extend her hand out to him. "Take my hand, Dreki. Let me show you there's a better way." She locked eyes with him. "Just like someone once did for me."

Dreki's wings drooped as he stared at Astrid's extended hand. It was her left hand, so her wedding ring was in plain sight. Dreki's pupils dilated some more, the diamond on the ring shining in his eyes. This girl didn't want to hurt him, she wanted to help him. Just like she'd helped Hiccup that one night.

* * *

 _Without warning, she punched him in the arm. "That's for kidnapping me," she said, matter-of-factly._

 _Startled and confused, Hiccup turned to Toothless, Verne, and Snivels. The black dragon and the Noibat were drinking from the lake, with Snivels standing next to them. Snivels noticed his friend's expression and shrugged._

 _Astrid then nervously brushed some strands of hair out of her eyes. She grabbed Hiccup by the front of his shirt, pulled him in, and kissed him on the cheek. "That's for...everything else." She turned and walked away._

* * *

Dreki shook his head as the memory faded. He lifted his clawed hand to his left cheek, rubbing the spot where she'd kissed him that night. His eyes drifted back to her outstretched hand. Hesitating slightly, he lowered his hand from his cheek and grabbed her hand tightly.

All at once, Dreki started changing. He got smaller and smaller, his tail and wings retracting into his body as his claws shortened into fingernails. Clothing replaced scales, and his left leg reverted to a prosthetic.

Hiccup started to fall forward, but Astrid caught him. He glanced up and found himself staring into her eyes. Smiling, he embraced her tightly, uttering just loud enough for her to hear, "Thank you."

Astrid wasted no time hugging him back, ignoring Toothless's croon of tenderness.

* * *

No one had been killed in Dreki's rampage, but it would be a while before Stoick and Brumous recovered from their injuries. No one knew who Dreki was, and with Splice's ability to create false memories in effect, they wouldn't know for a while.

The sun was setting over the Ice Caves when Astrid found Hiccup in their room, sitting on the bed by himself. The H-Men's powers had all worn off, so he was completely Dreki-free until he were to consume the Power Potion again.

Astrid sat down next to her husband. "You okay?"

"Not really," Hiccup replied. He didn't look at her, he just stared at his clasped hands.

"The potion has worn off," Astrid reminded him gently. "You're not Dreki anymore."

Sighing, Hiccup replied, "I know, but all of that anger, it...it came from inside me. And it's still there." He shut his eyes. "I don't want anyone to get hurt because I can't control it."

Now understanding his distress, Astrid laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Hiccup, having all of that anger inside you doesn't make you a monster." He lifted his eyes to look at her, and she gave him a small smile. "Knowing when to let it out is what makes you a man."

Speechless, Hiccup threw his arms around his wife, hugging her tightly. "Thanks for understanding."

"Of course," Astrid said, returning the embrace. "I wouldn't be a good wife if I didn't show any empathy, right?"

Hiccup couldn't help but breath a laugh. Positively high with giddiness, he pulled away and pressed a kiss to Astrid's mouth. Though momentarily shocked, Astrid didn't hesitate to return his affection.

Unbeknownst to the couple, Snivels and Adhesive were watching from the doorway, the door opened only a crack so they wouldn't be seen. The duo shut the door and turned to find the rest of Team Go-Getters waiting in anticipation.

Snivels gave them all a smile. "It's okay. He's okay."

Now the team was whole again. Even without special abilities or powers, every member played a part, whether big or small.

"Wait a minute," Adhesive said suddenly. "Astrid said that when Hiccup changed back, he still had his clothing and prosthetic leg. They actually transformed with him! How is that even possible? I mean, yeah, logic works differently in each dimension, but still!"

* * *

The morning afterwards, Snivels waited patiently for Toothless to join him and Hiccup for breakfast. The Night Fury padded over, a look of happiness and pride on his face.

Before Snivels even had to ask, Toothless gestured with his head to Ebony, who was napping. Snivels nudged Hiccup and pointed to Ebony. The female Night Fury's stomach was distended.

Hiccup couldn't help but grin. There was no translation needed.

* * *

 _If you find yourself down and out, there's always a hero for you to turn to. They may not be the kind of hero you're hoping for, but if they can help you find a way to make yourself useful, you can be a hero in your own way._

* * *

 **The H-Men will return.**

 **In the meantime, reviews are appreciated.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Night and the Fury

 **Otherwise known as the comeback episode of a certain maniacal chief.**

* * *

 _There are many kinds of reunions. Most are unexpected. Some of those are pleasant. And a few of those… yeah, not so pleasant at all._

* * *

Early that morning, before even most of the other members of Team Go-Getters were up and about, there was some activity going on with Snivels and the Night Furies.

The sight of four black, oval-shaped eggs that had just been laid by Ebony the night before was truly one to behold. Snivels could have sworn he felt his eyes tearing up a little as he felt the smooth outer shells of the eggs. The proud parents watched the Servine calmly, knowing that he had the intention of protecting their eggs as much as they did. Brandyn was standing not too far away with an egg that was a similar shape as Toothless and Ebony's, but was a blinding white instead of a midnight black.

"Are you sure they'll take the egg in?" Snivels asked, somewhat nervous.

Toothless padded forward and sniffed the egg Brandyn was cradling in his arms. It certainly didn't smell like a Night Fury's egg, but there was still something familiar about it.

"I'm positive," Brandyn said, nonchalantly. "This egg was found by a Resistance scout just yesterday, its parents got sick and didn't make it. They're a species of dragons closely related to Night Furies."

"Well, when you put it that way," Snivels said, "It does sound like a good idea. Someone's gotta take care of it, and I've already got my hands full with several dragonets. Not that I'm complaining, because I really enjoy taking care of them."

Brandyn smiled. "And who better to raise this little one than expectant parents of a species they're closely related to?" He held the egg out to Toothless, who took it in his mouth (after retracting his teeth first) and bringing it over to the ones Ebony had laid. The tired female watched as her mate gently set the white egg amongst their black ones.

"I can't wait for them all to hatch," Snivels remarked. "I should start coming up with names."

Ebony found the strength to stand up and pad over to the makeshift nest where the eggs were resting. Deciding that the white one wasn't close enough to the others, she nudged it further into the nest with her nose. Then she and Toothless collectively curled around the eggs, looking down at them with pride still evident in their eyes. They could see it now, their dragonets would be spoiled rotten.

* * *

A few days later, Snivels, Amber and Crackers were petting and playing with five newborn dragonets. Four of them were black like normal Night Furies, but the fifth one was all white with striking blue eyes.

The sound of joyful laughter brought Hiccup's attention to the group. "What are you guys doing?"

"We named all of Toothless and Ebony's dragonets," was Snivels's reply. He was holding one of said dragonets in his arms, specifically the one that had hatched first.

Amber held up the white one she had been holding. "This one's Alba, because she looks like an albino."

"We named this one Obsidian," Crackers said. The Sobble was stroking the one dragonet that was asleep, its scales as black as a starless night with a new moon.

Snivels then lowered the dragonet he was holding to the floor of the caves. "And here's Starflight." The dragonet extended his wings, revealing several small, unusual, white, freckle-like specks on the underside of his wings. At a glance, it looked a lot like a blanket of stars decorating the night sky.

Amber held up the last two dragonets. "And these two are Eclipse and Echo."

There wasn't much time for Hiccup to compliment his team on their choices of names. The entirety of Team Go-Getters had gathered with him in the middle of the Ice Caves, watching Fjord lay out a map of some island on a large table made of ice. "Alright, today's training mission is of the utmost importance, so I'll go ahead and cut to the chase." He pointed to the map, elaborating with each gesture. "Our scouts have spotted Berserker activity on Dragon Island, we'll need you all to investigate from this beach on the eastern side to a cave on the western side." He paused before adding, "Preferably at night. And hide the dragons. The tribe won't hesitate to attack them, even the young ones. "

Hiccup glanced over his shoulder at Toothless and Ebony, who were busy cleaning their dragonets with their tongues. The way the two Night Furies regarded their babies with such adoration and tenderness was enough to melt even the coldest of hearts (unless you were an Outcast or Berserker). He watched the family draw closer, the proud parents nuzzling their precious offspring. Toothless looked up at his rider, allowing Hiccup to see the pride and love still evident in his eyes.

 _I can't help but wonder,_ Hiccup thought, _Will I ever..._

He quickly cut himself off before he could get too distracted and caught Adhesive grinning at him. Pointedly, he looked away from the Poipole and focused on the task at hand.

Hesitantly, Snivels spoke up. "So...no dragons?"

"Yes, thank you for summing that up," Hiccup replied.

"That means we're all dead," Ninjark grumbled.

With a roll of his eyes, Hiccup muttered, "No, we're not. We all know how strong we are without our dragons, we can survive and defend ourselves just fine if we find ourselves separated from them."

"Come on, it'll be fun!" chirped Astrid.

Everyone unenthusiastically trudged out of the room to pack their bags for the trip.

* * *

Dragon Island was one of the few islands in the archipelago that served as an undisturbed habitat for wild creatures. Since the defeat of the Red Death, the volcanic land had become a lush place with its own rivers and forests. The sounds of wild creatures could be heard even from far away, which was generally enough to keep Viking ships away.

But tonight, new sounds could be heard – the sounds of flapping wings as a squadron of dragons and their riders prepared to land on one of the rocky beaches. The first to land was Hiccup and Toothless, followed closely by Astrid and Stormfly, then Heather and Windshear, and then the whole rest of the group. They dismounted immediately, some of them immediately equipping themselves with tools, while others stared up at the dormant volcano that rose high above them to shield them from the light of the moon.

Hiccup went around to Toothless's side and reached into the saddlebags, lifting out the two boy dragonets that had been tucked carefully within. The three girls were on Ebony's back, she he elected not to be fitted with a saddle, a wish all of the other members of the team respected. It was hard not to notice how Alba's white scales stood out amongst the black coloration of the rest of her family.

Giving his dragon one last pat on the head, Hiccup walked over to meet with the other members of Team Go-Getters, now gathered around and waiting for the search to begin.

"Okay, first thing's first," Hiccup announced, grabbing hold of a lantern to illuminate the otherwise dark beach, "Adhesive is going to take the dragons and youngsters to the cave on the other side of the island. That way, they won't be in any danger."

"What?!" shouted Adhesive, nearly dropping the duffel bag he had packed with his precious electronics. "Why me? I wanna be where the action is!"

Blaze muttered to herself, "Can't you find plenty of that on your screens?"

"Look, Adhesive," Hiccup began, only for the Poipole to cut him off.

"Hey, it's okay, it's your Millennium Falcon, you and Chewbacca do whatever you wanna do." He glanced at Snivels as he said that last part. Then he pointed to his bag. "Me and Princess Leia here will find some other way to spend the evening."

With a grumble, Astrid muttered bitterly, "I hate it when he does that."

Now that everything had been taken care of, the trainers prepared for their departure. They each grabbed their saddlebags as well as a spare lantern, making sure that they would stay well lit. Once they had tested to make sure that their weapons were clipped securely to their backs, they went over to their dragons to wish them farewell.

Hiccup and Snivels began to depart into the wilderness, only to hear heavy footsteps following then. Both trainer and Pokémon turned around, and the light of the lantern washed over the pitch-black scales of a very familiar Night Fury.

"Sorry, Toothless," Hiccup apologized sadly, rubbing his dragon companion under the chin. "We don't want to risk you or the other dragons getting hurt. You need to stay with Adhesive, since...uh...he's the boss."

"That's right!" said Poipole declared. "You heard that! I'm the boss! I'm the boss! I'm the boss, boss, boss! Hey, does anyone know where the cave is?"

Skeptically, Hiccup stared at him. "Are you serious...?"

"I'll escort them there," Brandyn offered.

Adhesive shook his head. "No, I'll find it myself. I have GPS on my phone." The Poipole picked up a lantern and led the dragons off the beach. After having been assured by their riders that it'd just be for a few hours, the dragons followed Adhesive obediently.

It wasn't just the dragons and Dragon-type Pokémon that would be sitting the mission out. Blaze and Kickin' Hawk's kids, and all the other non-evolved Pokémon were following. Except for a Kakuna, who just sat there.

"Hey, come on, Sting!" came Adhesive's voice.

The Kakuna made a grunting sound, then started hopping after them as best he could. Brandyn stared after Sting, who had been a wriggly little Weedle not too long ago.

"Remember," Hiccup called out to the team members that were ready to split up. "It's better to go stealthily, not quickly. This mission isn't just about finding the Berserkers, we need to find out what they're up to."

Each team member nodded in understanding before they all went their separate ways. Steeling his courage, Hiccup once more began to head out into the forest ahead, with Snivels following loyally.

First, silence.

Then...

"Have I ever told you about my first encounter with Dragon Island?"

This was one story from Snivels Hiccup was looking forward to hearing.

* * *

It didn't take long for Adhesive to lead the dragons, Dragon-types, and prevolved Pokémon to the cave on the other side of the island. It was spacious enough for at least two Wailord to fit inside. At least, that was Adhesive's first impression of the cave's immensity. The ceiling was pretty high, too, so none of them would get claustrophobic even though the dragons took up a good portion of the cavern's available space.

"Alright!" Adhesive said, placing his duffel bag on the ground and rubbing his hands together with anticipation. "Who's up for an all-nighter? It'll be just like a camping trip!"

While most of the dragons were already laying down on the stone floor and relaxing, Toothless remained on his feet, his eyes turned toward the cavern entrance from where he could feel the chilly breeze blowing. He couldn't lay down comfortably, knowing that his rider was walking into wild dragon territory alone. That did it. Toothless started to make his way out of the cave.

"Hey!" shouted Adhesive. "Toothless, no. Remember the mission – dragons stay hidden and safe. That means you. Besides, we're gonna have loads of fun here!"

There was a loud collective groan as the prevolved Pokémon watch Cross and Flare fight over Dazzle's attention for the third time that week.

"You two, knock it off!" Adhesive yelled at them. "What has gotten into you guys, anyway? That Salandit isn't the only available female on the team, you know!"

The Litten and Scorbunny backed away from each other, not even looking at the Poipole as they sat down on opposite sides of the cave. Both fire cats hissed and glared at each other as if they were planning to lunge at one another at any second.

"Well, at least it's over," Adhesive grumbled. He turned back to Toothless and continued, "So as I was saying, you're not allowed to leave the cave. Why don't you try spending time with your new dragonets? I'm sure they'd love some quality time with their father."

Toothless grunted at him, but obliged. He found Ebony curled around their offspring and greeted her with a croon. The two mates nuzzled each other as Toothless lay down next to Ebony, gazing down at his beautiful dragonets.

Adhesive leaned against the wall of the cave and slid down to the floor next to his duffel bag, sighing. "Finally, some quiet time," he said, then reach into his bag and pulled out his iPad. "Now I can catch up on reading Monsters of Berk."

* * *

Astrid vaulted over a boulder and hit the ground at a roll, drawing her axe as soon as she was back in an upright position. Glancing back, and seeing that Blaze wasn't too far behind, she raced through a narrow path between the bushes without making a sound.

The Hofferson-turned-Haddock couldn't help but keep a grin from spreading across her face as she continued on her way, ducking under low-hanging branches and climbing over rocks. While she had been looking forward to his mission for practical reasons concerning Team Go-Getters and the Resistance, there had indeed been a second reason – because she knew she'd end up loving it. Racing through hostile dragon territory armed with nothing but her wits and her weapons? Yes, please!

Blaze gave up trying to catch up to her trainer, since she knew very well they could each handle themselves perfectly. She was just thinking that things couldn't get any more exciting, when a fireball blazed over her head and exploded against a rock. A large, blue dragon stepped out of the trees and stood on the path in Blaze's way, raising its spiny tail to try and scare her off.

"A Deadly Nadder," Blaze remarked, clenching her fists. "I saw Astrid train Stormfly, so this shouldn't be hard. Just stay in its blind spot and..."

The Nadder opened its maw and squawked, then lofted into the air and launched darts from its tail. Blaze rolled away and did a cartwheel to avoid them, then fired a Flamethrower at the dragon. The flames barely left a scorch mark, but it did frighten the Nadder.

"So, what do you wanna do now?" Blaze asked it, smiling.

Irritated, the Deadly Nadder flew away in defeat.

* * *

On another part of the island, a certain Aetherson boy was climbing up a series of rock ledges that created a small 'canyon', through which a stream flowed. It would have been easier for Ra and Camazotz to Teleport him up there, but he'd opted for the two Cosmog to stay with Adhesive, mostly because they didn't actually know any offensive or defensive moves.

"I should really start working on helping them evolve," he was saying to himself, as he crossed over a log that formed a bridge between both sides of the canyon. "Who knows what'll happen if they end up in a situation where the only way out is battle."

He slipped and nearly fell into the stream. After regaining his footing, he left the canyon behind and started making his way back into the forest.

"Maybe if I had some Rare Candies..."

* * *

Naturally, Heather and Ninjark were being cautious. The raven-haired girl had yet to officially pick out a weapon for herself, so Ninjark's moves were their only defense.

"It's not so bad out here," she said to herself, kicking a pebble out of her path. "When we're through scouting the area, it'll make a good hiking retreat."

Ninjark shrugged. "Never been hiking before. What's it like?"

Heather didn't get the chance to answer, as a dragon burst out from the underbrush. It was rather bulky, about twice as big as a Gronckle, but it moved ridiculously fast. Heather and Ninjark didn't even get a good look at it before it ran off in the other direction.

"What was that?" Heather asked. She wracked her brain to remember that one day in the academy, when Hiccup had mentioned the species that lived on Dragon Island. She may not have gotten a good look at the mystery dragon, but it certainly didn't match the description of any dragon that resided on the island.

Her Greninja didn't have much luck figuring it out either. "That was either a really big Gronckle, or a boulder with legs and wings."

There was a loud squawk from the direction where the mystery dragon had run off to.

"Follow that roar," decided Heather. "We might be able to figure out what it is if we get a good look at it."

On that note, both trainer and Pokémon took off towards the direction of the mystery dragon's roars.

The dragon didn't notice the duo, and it certainly wouldn't have known what they were, since this was its first time out and about. Its many eyes scanned the area around it, it had never seen so many plants. In the volcano where it hatched, there was nothing but rocks and flowing lava. Every dragon it came across took one look at it and flew away in fear.

" _Where's my mama?_ " the dragonet asked itself, cautiously making its way through the undergrowth.

* * *

Elsewhere on the island, a certain Servine had yet to stop babbling. It started out nice, with his first encounter with the dragons' nest, but now he was going on and on about dragons with unusual markings.

"This isn't the first time I've seen a dragon with odd or unique patterns, but I've never really gotten close enough to a Night Fury to see if they had any. I'm actually glad Starflight has those little specks under his wings, it kinda gives the added effect of being part of the night sky. You know, I once met this Deadly Nadder that had these big splotches on its side that looked like someone spilled paint on them. I also noticed that one of Hookfang's dragonets has these little spots on his snout that, if you look at them the right way, resemble freckles. And don't even get me started on the striped Scauldron!"

This was one of those rare moments where Hiccup wished Snivels didn't talk so much.

The duo continued on their way peacefully for about ten more minutes. There didn't seem to be many threats in this part of the woods, which was good enough for Hiccup. It allowed him to really stop and look around, appreciating how the island looked so different than when he first visited. Before, it was as barren as could be – now, months later, it looked like there was a real ecosystem coming into existence.

 _I'll have to remind myself to come back and study this place,_ he thought to himself. _I wonder just how much it's changed..._

He and Snivels was making their way up a cliff when the Servine caught sight of a light from somewhere down below. He nudged Hiccup with his tail and pointed. Turning around, Hiccup peered down from his vantage point and immediately caught sight of a small flame burning in the middle of a clearing.

"A campfire?" Hiccup exclaimed to no-one at all. "We've gotta check it out!"

* * *

On another part of the island, Amber and Crackers tip-toed through the brush, so as not to disturb any wildlife they happened upon. They made sure to step over twig and around every rock to avoid making too much noise.

"How do you think the others are doing?" Amber half-asked, half-whispered to the Sobble. "Let's hope they're having better luck than we are."

Keeping his eyes on his surroundings, Crackers quietly responded, "I just hope we find them before something else does."

Amber looked over her shoulder, inquisitive. "Something else?" she repeated. "Like what?" Then she cried out as she tripped and fell to the forest floor. Pushing herself up on her hands and knees, the Charmeleon found that she had tripped in what appeared to be a small hole.

But since when did holes have toes and claw marks?

The duo quickly realized that what Amber had tripped in was a dragon's footprint. Looking around, they realized that there was a whole trail of them heading in the opposite direction of where they'd been going.

Crackers gulped nervously. "Like whatever made those!"

* * *

Some time had passed, and Adhesive had finished the story he'd been reading. It had been a while since the four trainers and their non-Dragon-type and evolved Pokémon had left, but it was a big island, so the dragons and prevolves were expecting them to show up a few hours from now.

Adhesive was in the middle of a rather aggravating rant. "So close," he said, his voice heavy with annoyance and frustration. "They were _this close_ to a heartfelt confession! Is whoever's in charge of that alternate timeline trying to torture me with this?!"

Everyone else in the cave stared at him like he'd just sprouted a second head.

Adhesive sighed as he settled near the campfire he had built in the middle of the cavern. "Anyway, how about we relax with some good, old campfire songs? Oh, that reminds me, this is one of my favorites!" He then started singing.

" _Let's gather 'round the campfire and sing a campfire song.  
_ _The C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song.  
_ _And if you don't think that I can sing it faster, then you're wrong  
_ _But it'll help if you just sing along!_ "

He suddenly sprung up and started singing the same verse over and over, at an increasingly faster pace.

" _C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song,  
C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song,  
_ _And if you don't think that I can sing it faster, then you're wrong,  
_ _But it'll help if you just sing along!_ "

The dragons and prevolves did nothing but stare at him in bewilderment. In fact, the only one that was actually joining in the fun was Heather's Popplio, Sirena. Too bad she couldn't quite keep up with the fast pace of the song.

After what seemed like a eternity, Adhesive finally brought the song to a close.

" _It'll help, it'll help!  
_ _If you just sing along!  
_ _Oh, yeah!_ "

The Poipole looked around to find only a delighted Sirena applauding his performance. "Hmph," he grumbled. "Tough cave."

Near the exit, a certain Cosmog duo emitted a pair of growls from their stomachs, signifying that they were hungry. Camazotz immediately leapt up and hovered over to Adhesive. "Do you have any snacks?"

"I have some things in my bag," he replied, slowly lowering to the floor in front of the campfire. "Just don't overdo the sweets, okay?"

Ra made it to the bag first, and started to open it when Camazotz arrived. The duo began pulling on each end of the bag, bickering.

"Ra, don't hog all the food!"

"I'm not hogging the food, I'm just hungrier than you!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"I'm the one hungrier than you!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Ugh," Adhesive groaned at all the noise. "Who knew babysitting would be so much work?"

Toothless, who had been sitting in a corner, almost invisible in the darkness, had pretty much had enough. He didn't have to sit here and endure this foolishness. Hiccup was out there and needed his help, while he was lounging around in here and being bored out of his mind by a Poipole.

Everything that happened next was all a blur.

Adhesive's bag suddenly flew out of Ra and Camazotz's grasp, flying into the air as it burst open. Dozens of blue objects that looked like giant blueberries spilled out, along with Adhesive's phone and mobile charger. Screaming in fright, Adhesive quickly went to catch his electronics before they hit the ground, he did NOT want to spend all the money he'd earned off his web series on a new phone and charger. No sooner after he'd caught his items, one of the blue foods bonked him in the head before falling to the floor of the cave with all the others.

Their hunger realized, the prevolves, including Ra and Camazotz, darted forward and started eating the blue foods off the cavern floor.

"Oh, no," Adhesive said with wide eyes as he realized what was going on. "My Rare Candies! DON'T EAT THOSE!"

Too late. A blindingly bright light enveloped the cavern as the Pokémon who had consumed the Rare Candies all started evolving simultaneously. Adhesive and the dragons shielded their eyes to avoid going blind. Toothless quickly took advantage of the situation, bounding past Adhesive and out of the mouth of the cave and into the forest where his rider was out wandering somewhere.

Adhesive whimpered as he strained to see through the light. "This could be a problem," he said to himself.

* * *

As he climbed down the cliff and approached the fire that let up smoke that could be seen from the other side of the island, Snivels could already hear the discriminating insults of whoever was responsible for the campfire. Aside from Heather, Hiccup was pretty much the only person in the archipelago who treated Snivels like an equal from day one.

"Okay, so, how do you want us to do this?" he asked.

Hiccup looked at his partner over his shoulder. "Just stay close."

Without further hesitation, Hiccup and Snivels walked further into the campsite, noticing all the different supplies haphazardly scattered about. There were some crates full of spears, a crossbow resting against a log, a bag of ammo, and even some food laying around...

There was a loud yell and a blur of motion, and something large tackled Hiccup with enough force to send him flying into the dirt. His lantern fell out of his hands when he hit the ground, and all the breath came out of his lungs with a gasping wheeze. Hiccup blinked several times to clear his vision before he could black out, and raised his head to stare into a pair of eyes – an unexpected and unpleasantly familiar pair.

In a trembling voice, Hiccup stammered, "W-W-Wait, Dagur?"

Indeed it was. He was staring into the helmeted, tattooed, and maniacally-grinning face of none other than the teenaged Chief of the Berserker tribe himself.

As if today couldn't get any worse.

"HICCUP!" Dagur exclaimed. He sprang to his feet and tugged on Hiccup's arm, helping the younger boy up, then proceeded to envelop him in a hearty, crushing hug. "Old friend! It's so good to see you!"

Thankfully for Hiccup's lungs, he put his 'friend' down. Stumbling slightly when his feet made contact with the ground, he rubbed his neck and did his best to overcome the initial shock to come up with an answer quickly. Dagur was probably the last person he had expected to encounter on Dragon Island in the dead of night, and probably the worst person to boot. If there was a silver lining, though, it was that Dagur was at least happy to see him.

"Y-yeah, it's, uh...nice to see you, too," Hiccup finally replied, getting his mouth in gear. "I haven't seen you since, uh..."

In his excitement, Dagur finished for him, "Since that Druddigon attack back on Berk!" Then his excitement turned to anger and frustration. "I was so close to getting its odd-colored head when that little snake came in and ruined everything!"

Hiccup was somewhat taken aback by the quick change in the older boy's tone of voice, but still managed to comment, "O-Oh yes, that. I had almost forgotten. You know...Berk gets so many happenings, it's hard to keep them all straight."

Snivels's tail twitched nervously at where this was going, but he did his best to ignore it. The Servine looked to his left to find a Bisharp standing next to him, causing him to cry out a little in surprise.

That caught Dagur's attention, and he practically stomped over to where the two Pokémon were. He glared down at Snivels, his hand twitching for his axe, but he shook it off.

Hiccup finally noticed the Bisharp, and, hoping to change the subject, asked, "Is that who I think it is?"

Dagur turned to look at the younger boy, his anger towards Snivels momentarily forgotten. "Yeah, Deathblade evolved not long after we broke outta that prison. Some lucky break, right?"

Snivels nearly fainted in frustration. A Pokémon evolving under such circumstances was anything but a "lucky break," as Dagur put it.

"So," the Berserker Chief started anew, more suspiciously. He scrutinized his visitors. "What are you and your snake doing here?"

"What are we doing here...?" mumbled Hiccup, appearing nonchalant when, in reality, a cold flash of panic was running up his spine. What was his alibi? What purpose did he have to be wandering around this island?

"Don't answer that!" Dagur told him, cutting his reply off before it could even form. "I know exactly what you're doing here. You're here for the same reason Deathblade and I are, Hiccup. You're here..."

Again, Hiccup gulped.

"...To hunt dragons with me!" finished Dagur, grinning.

A single beat passed as that last statement sank into the Haddock boy's brain. Then he realized that Dagur had unwittingly thrown him a lifeline, and he decided to take it enthusiastically. Hey, if his acquaintance from the Berserkers believed he was still into dragon hunting, then he was definitely ready to play along if it meant preserving peace between the tribes – not to mention his own life.

"O-Okay, you got me!" he laughed. "That's what we're here for. Dragon hunting."

Snivels's tail twitched again, this time at Hiccup's lies. He kept his mouth shut, not wanting to find out what would happen if he suddenly and unwillingly blurted out the truth of the situation.

His muscles relaxing, Dagur walked over and clapped a hand to Hiccup's back. He asked conversationally, "So, what are you hoping to find out here?"

"Ah," Hiccup began, "Well, I just, ah..." He had trouble coming up with a lie, so he just said the first dragon name that popped into his head. "...Night Fury."

"That's perfect!" Dagur whooped.

Hiccup nearly jumped clean out of his pants at the Berserker chief's sudden exclamation. Deciding to give talking a try, Snivels tried to sound casual as he inquired, "Uh, how exactly is that so perfect?"

Dagur laughed. "We're going to hunt the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself! The four of us are going to take down the Night Fury once and for all!"

Outwardly, Hiccup was frozen. Inwardly, he was panicking.

Things had spiraled out of control so quickly that it was making his head spin. Dagur was with him and Team Go-Getters on the island, he was convinced that Hiccup was his ally, and now he was stuck with him until they found a Night Fury. His options were to stay with Dagur on Dragon Island forever – while somehow keeping his friends and the dragons out of sight the entire time – or to find Toothless and figure out a way to save him while Dagur was busy trying to make a rug out of his hide.

How was Hiccup going to get out of this one?

"U-Uh...o-okay...just..." he tried. Maybe delicate negotiations would work? It did with his dad...

"AROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Dagur's sudden outburst almost gave Hiccup heart failure. And he didn't stop there – he crouched in front of the campfire and raised his head to the sky, yelling and hooting like a total maniac. Not that he wasn't.

Briefly, Dagur paused to grin excitedly at his guest. "C'mon, Hiccup, howl with me!" he invited. "It feels really good!"

"Oh, so that's what you were doing," Hiccup replied, somehow managing to sound sarcastic even with his heart racing.

Fortunately for him, Dagur didn't seem to notice that he wasn't joining in. He was too lost in the apparent joy of howling at the moon like an over-enthusiastic Lycanroc. Patiently, Hiccup waited until the Berserker Chief ran out of breath, then joined him on the log nearest to the campfire.

"Chicken?" offered Dagur, holding out a half-cooked leg.

How many more times would Hiccup be surprised tonight? By now, he could have been knocked over by a feather. Dagur was being surprisingly hospitable – that 'attack' on Berk must have left quite the impression on him, more so than Hiccup suspected.

"N-No thanks, I'm good," he politely declined.

Shrugging, Dagur put the leg away and instead took his axe out, running a whetstone over the weapon's blade in order to sharpen it.

"You know, Hiccup," he began, surprisingly solemnly, "Ever since Deathblade and I escaped from prison, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you."

"Well that's strange," Hiccup remarked. "B-But, I'm flattered."

"Not you personally, you and that snake!" Dagur corrected him, the frustration once again coming into his voice as if it couldn't be contained. "I don't know how you two found out about my plan to restore the Berserkers to their former glory, but I haven't forgotten it! And the way you got to teach that snake of yours how to speak, its gives me chills! Just think of the kinds of things Deathblade would say if he could talk to me!"

Did Dagur just say that Hiccup taught Snivels how to speak? Anyone who knew Snivels knew that the Servine had taught himself how to talk, he was able to speak when he first met Hiccup as a Snivy. The only thing Hiccup had actually helped him with was speaking in full sentences. Hiccup wasn't sure whether or not to correct the older boy.

"You don't say," he said, neutrally.

Chuckling good-naturedly, Dagur reached behind him and pulled out a massive, undercooked steak with a thick slab of fat clinging to the meat. At the sight of it, Snivels felt his stomach lurch. He couldn't help but remember that dragons were pretty much inedible, unless you were the Red Death. "Is, is that...?" he cautioned.

"Oh, no," Dagur assured him, meat juice dripping from his chin. "It's yak. But anyway, those bad boys might look slow and dumb, but they're faster than they look! I just –"

A distant roar interrupted his commentary, from the other side of the island if Hiccup could wager a guess. Its suddenness made him jump to his feet, heart beating wildly. But that wasn't the only frightening part – he recognized it, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what dragon it belonged to.

But luckily, all Dagur did was jump out of his seat in the same manner as Hiccup. He immediately snatched up the crossbow lying on the ground and held it up in front of him. It looked quite heavy, from the way he tucked it under one arm while supporting its huge barrel with his other hand. He pointed it this way and that, as if looking for the creature that could have made that sudden roar.

"Whoa, nice-looking crossbow," Hiccup commented.

"My dragon hunting weapon of choice," he replied, slowly lowering the crossbow now that he knew they weren't about to be ambushed. He then glanced at Hiccup and noticed the weapon that he had on him. "You carry...a shield?"

Feeling somewhat awkward, Hiccup unlimbered his draconium shield and idly twirled it around in his hands. He nodded and bashfully replied, "Yeah, yeah, just...just a shield. Just a...a plain, old shield."

Once again, Snivels's tail twitched at the lies.

"Very ornate," Dagur commented with a nod of his own, noticing the silver metal it was covered in. "My father had one kind of like that. I, myself, have never felt the need to use blunt weapons against dragons."

Hiccup made sure to change the subject before Dagur could launch into a graphic explanation of why he preferred cutting weapons over bashing weapons. "So by the way, how long have you and Deathblade been out here, Dagur?"

Impatiently, Dagur circled the campsite, toting his crossbow around with him and scanning the bushes for any potential targets. In reply, he muttered distractedly, "Couple of days, weeks...I don't know. It's hard to tell. Everything's all a blur when you're on the hunt."

 _Or when you're completely mental,_ Snivels thought.

"Maybe you should take a little break," he suggested aloud.

"Not until I get a Night Fury!" Dagur whooped, suddenly excited again. "I know it's on this island. I can feel it. Right in here."

He dramatically put a hand on his chest. Hiccup visibly paled when Dagur suddenly approached him and added, "You feel it too, don't you?"

"A-Ah, no," Hiccup chuckled. "I just feel...really awkward."

Instantly, Dagur started cackling, and swatted Hiccup on the back so hard that the Haddock boy tumbled to the ground. It took him a full minute to calm down, during which he could barely keep himself standing from all the breath he was expending in his laughter.

"Oh, you do know how to bring the funny, Hiccup!" the Berserker Chief told him.

"Uh, thanks," replied Hiccup, not sure how to take that.

Again, Dagur helped him up, then gathered up his crossbow and his pouch of ammo. Slinging the pouch over his shoulder and tucking the weapon under his arm, he began to exit the campsite, only pausing long enough to glance back at Hiccup and kick a bucket of water onto the fire.

"Come on, let's grab our gear," he said. "Then, we'll go and hunt those dragons...brother."

Hiccup stopped dead at the last word. "Uh...what?"

"Brother," Dagur repeated himself, a perfectly friendly smile stretching across his face. "Yep, you and me."

Would the surprises ever stop? Now Dagur liked him enough to consider him an honorary sibling? If the situation wasn't so dire – and if he were perfectly fine with having his little 'dragon riding' secret discovered – then Hiccup probably would have laughed sarcastically in his face. As it were, though, he had to physically swallow his revulsion and go along with it.

But seriously...brothers. That was pretty crazy, even for someone like Dagur.

"And things just got even more awkward..." Snivels muttered to himself.

With a reasonable amount of hesitance, Hiccup and Snivels followed their newest companions out of the campsite and back into the wild. And all the while, Hiccup tried his absolute hardest to think of a plan that would save his friends and their dragons.

* * *

The unlikely group of four hadn't been walking for very long when they entered a small gorge. Almost as soon as they arrived, they heard something large scrabbling across the rocks above their heads. Excitedly, Dagur and Deathblade grabbed Hiccup and Snivels's arms and ran behind a nearby bush, staring up at the pebbles that were beginning to fall from the lip of the canyon.

"That could be him!" the Berserker Chief whispered, bouncing up and down with ecstasy.

Deathblade grinded the blades on his arms with anticipation, the sound of which made Snivels cringe.

"N-No..." murmured Hiccup. "That sounds too big."

They waited for the dragon to make itself known, but whatever had been making the noise must have decided that it was too risky to search the canyons and went away. The faint thuds of footfalls gradually got quieter as the dragon wandered away.

"Oh, you're right," Dagur said, disappointed. But before Hiccup could even think of breathing a sigh of relief, he raised his crossbow while the blades on Deathblade's arms glowed white. "But we're taking him down anyway, just for fun!"

Another flash of panic bolted down Hiccup's spine, spurring him into action. "No!" He leapt in front of the two, shield raised in case either of them made a move to attack whatever had been above them.

"How dare you?!" demanded Dagur, completely livid.

"I-I had to," Hiccup replied, forcing his voice to stay calm and even. "The Night Furies would have...heard it."

All at once, the anger faded from Dagur's eyes, replaced with a look of confusion. "They can do that?"

"They do have an excellent sense of hearing," Snivels informed him. "They kind of have to, because, you know, they fly at night and everything. They would have sensed danger and fled." He then snapped his mouth shut before he revealed any other information that would have alerted the Berserker to their true intentions.

While it took him a second or two to comprehend what the Servine was telling him at first, Dagur's brow quickly cleared up, and he laughed with amusement.

"Ha, look at us!" he declared. "You, a scrawny little pair of...well, you know what you are...and us, the great Dagur the Deranged and Deathblade the Bisharp! Who would have thought we would make such a formidable team?"

"Not me, that's for sure," agreed Hiccup.

When Dagur and Deathblade turned their backs to continue forward, Hiccup breathed a silent sigh of relief and wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. He was glad to see that his quick wits were proving useful already. It was kind of odd, though, that Dagur and Deathblade would be here on Dragon Island alone – especially since the Berserker chief could have easily formed a team of warriors. Last time Hiccup and Snivels saw him, he did have quite the armada...

The memory prompted Snivels to ask his trainer a question that he knew he wouldn't be able to get off his mind if he didn't. So he threw caution to the winds and spoke up. "Exactly how long are we going to keep up this charade? I can't keep ignoring your lies forever. I mean, all that work you put into hiding Toothless before the Red Death was bad enough."

"I don't know, Snivs," Hiccup answered sadly. "But we can't risk it. You heard what Fjord said, back at the Ice Caves. Dagur and Deathblade won't hesitate to kill our dragons, not even the dragonets."

Snivels shuddered at the mental image of the maniacal chief slicing Toothless and Ebony's children in half with his axe. "Fair point," he replied. "But if it's all the same to you, I think I'd better go warn the others."

Hiccup gave his partner a nod of approval, and just like that, Snivels left.

Finally, the Servine could take in the scenery of Dragon Island. "Didn't think this place would become so lively after the queen's demise," he muttered to himself. His attention was so focused on the flora, he'd forgotten to look where he was going.

The next thing he knew, Snivels was falling down a tunnel near the side of the mountain that was the resting place of the dragon queen. He landed quite hard at the bottom, the cracks of the rocky floor glowing from the lava that had collected somewhere below.

Snivels pulled himself to his feet with a groan. "Am I gonna feel that in the morning..." He trailed off as he became aware of his new surroundings.

Everywhere he looked, there were rocks towering hundreds of thousands of feet over his head. The tunnel from which he had entered was too steep for him to climb out, so he had to find another way to exit. Each step he took with caution, so as not to fall through the floor and into the lava waiting below.

*crunch!*

Snivels froze at the sound emanating from under his feet. He looked down to find a piece of a thick, yet somewhat brittle, substance that, based on its jagged edges, looked like it had broken off of something. Moving slowly, Snivels picked up the piece in his leafy Servine hands, turning it over to get a better idea of what it was. He could just see what appeared to be a pattern of little red bumps on the other side, outlined by a dull grey.

Looking up, Snivels found several other pieces of different shapes and sizes that had the same likeness as the piece he was holding. It took him a minute to figure out that they were eggshells. And based on the size and number of them, they had to have come from a VERY large egg.

That's when it clicked. There'd been no raids on the day Team Go-Getters had gone to battle the Red Death. And before then, the queen's food rations had been increasing exponentially, as if she was trying to feed another dragon besides herself. She'd also been really steamed, even more than the other dragons had known her to be. And that was before Stoick came rudely knocking on the door that was her volcano home. And even for a dragon her size, she'd been quite sluggish trying to catch Toothless when she found out he'd brought two humans, a Combusken, and a Snivy into her home.

Enormous appetite, fits of anger, bouts of laziness. They were all symptoms of a female dragon whose body was harboring more than one soul.

Snivels dropped the eggshell he'd been holding, wide-eyed.

The Red Death had been **_pregnant._**

If he had to guess, she must have finished laying her egg sometime before the Vikings arrived on the island.

And if his hunch was right, then that meant there was a large, six-eyed dragonet running around on the island somewhere. Snivels wasn't sure what was worse: Dagur finding the Red Death's baby, or Astrid finding the Red Death's baby. The former Hofferson had nightmares of the queen devouring and/or roasting Hiccup to a crisp, so there was no telling what she'd do to a poor dragonet who had no idea what he'd done wrong.

After regaining his senses, Snivels darted this way and that, desperately looking for an exit, shouting at the top of his lungs, "HICCUP!"

* * *

Unbeknownst to anyone, three pairs of eyes were surveying Hiccup curiously.

The large dragonet hadn't been out of his egg - only for about a few days or so - for long when a group of dragons had come flying in with humans and Pokémon on their backs. Curious, the dragonet had roused himself and taken to following each of the humans and Pokémon as they explored the island.

The longer it followed, though, the more uneasy it became. For starters, it had never seen such odd-looking creatures before. Then there was that weapon-toting maniac, and that thing that looked like a walking arsenal of swords and axes. They seemed to be hunting something, and the dragonet sincerely hoped that it wasn't the prize the dangerous human and Sword Blade Pokémon were searching for.

The dragonet hurried to the beaches, where he sought comfort in the large skeletal remains of a dragon he didn't know. He found his place in the dragon's rib cage, in the spot where the heart would be, and curled up into it. His eyes shut tight, he hoped he could sleep through the night without being found out by any of the strange and frightening creatures he'd seen. The remains of this large dragon gave him the kind of comfort he was hoping his mother would give when she found him.

Little did the dragonet know, the skeleton he'd been sleeping in _was_ his mother.

* * *

 **I didn't originally plan to add the dragonet into the mix, it just sorta came to me as I was writing. Maybe adding a little drama and suspense to the mix?**

 **Anyway, Dagur's got no sister in this universe. And if I'm honest, I completely missed the conversation in which he mentioned his sister to Hiccup in the original episode, so I was completely unaware of the fact until the events of "Have Dragon Will Travel." Imagine my surprise and disappointment, I dare you.**

 **Anyway, leave a review, if you wish!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Once Bitten, Twice Shy

 **This chapter title kinda has more than one interpretation - Team Go-Getters' previous encounter with the Red Death and their previous encounter with Dagur.**

* * *

A couple of hours had passed since Adhesive had first come to the cave. After a night filled with reading one of his favorite stories, with some disappointments, then singing a childish campfire song, it just had to be topped off with the prevolves getting into his supply of Rare Candies and evolving into their second forms. In his defense, it was difficult to look after a whole group of dragons and Pokémon for so long, even though Adhesive was a Pokémon himself.

And that went double for the now-no-longer-prevolves. The Gible Snivels named Chomper was now a Gabite who was thinking of making this cave his own.

Mawnan the Rowlet had become a Dartrix, while still retaining his nearsightedness as he ended up flying into walls all over the cavern.

Cross the Torracat had resumed fighting Flare over Dazzle, who was now a characteristically flirtatious Salazzle.

Sirena was now a Brionne instead of a Popplio.

Amp the Flaaffy was now an Ampharos.

Heather's Zorua, Snafu, was now Zoroark, otherwise known as the master of illusions.

Venus the Bulbasaur was now an Ivysaur.

Brandyn's Charmander, Fuego, was now a Charmeleon with blood-red skin instead of crimson, like Amber.

Tidus, Brandyn's Squirtle, was now a Wartortle.

Pidge the Pidgeotto was attempting to catch Sting the Beedrill (hopefully, not to eat).

The Beldum Brandyn had named Cobalt was now a Metang.

Blaze and Kickin' Hawk's second eldest, Kiche, had also evolved, she was now a Combusken.

The prevolved Pokémon that had stayed the same were Buddy the Type: Null, Verne and Wavern's children, Vigor the Shelgon, Hokkaido the Rockruff, Komodo the Jangmo-o, Luke the Riolu, Aria the Shiny Swablu, Gameroid the Grookey, Flare the Scorbunny, and the two remaining Torchic, Basan and Aster.

All the other Pokémon were either fully-evolved, in the middle of their evolutionary chain, or unable to evolve at all.

Adhesive's eyes then landed on a pair of tiny, translucent, dark blue orbs with starscape patterns set in solid golden shell structures. Realizing that Ra and Camazotz had also evolved, into Cosmoem, Adhesive fell to the cave floor, lying on his back and staring wide-eyed at the ceiling. "Can this night get any worse?"

As if on cue, a scream suddenly pierced the air. The unmistakable sound came from somewhere in the distance, but it was still loud enough to rouse the dragons. They alertly gathered at the cave entrance, being careful not to step on Adhesive.

That hadn't been a dragon or Pokémon type of scream. It had been a human screaming. Which meant the trainers were in danger.

Everyone except Adhesive booked it out of the cave, immediately bounding away on foot, or gliding and hovering through the air. It wasn't until several minutes after the dragons and Pokémon had flown the coop when Adhesive finally sat up, only to find the cave empty. The only ones still there, besides him, were the immobile Cosmoem duo.

"Hurray. I'm dead!"

* * *

The scream, incidentally, had come from Astrid. She had been running down a small path through the foliage, eager to get in on some action, when she was jumped by a large dragon without any warning. It had leapt out of the bushes with wings fully spread, so suddenly that she had yelled out loud with shock and readied her double-bladed axe.

At the sight of the weapon, the dragonet bailed out of there, heading right back the way it had come.

It all happened so fast, but Astrid was able to see what kind of dragon it was.

A baby Red Death.

Now, let it be known that it was not the dragonet itself that had scared the otherwise fearless Hofferson-turned-Haddock. It was the idea that there was another of the monstrous creature that had nearly gotten Hiccup killed.

It didn't help that she still had nightmares of the Red Death, in the form of its own fiery explosion, swallowing Hiccup and Toothless in one bite.

She had to either find the dragonet before it got away, or find Hiccup before the dragonet did.

* * *

"Listen!" gasped Dagur, in response to a rustling in the nearby bushes. "Smaller this time! It could be him!"

Hiccup sighed as the older teen dragged him into hiding behind a boulder. He just wished that Dagur's obsession with hunting down a Night Fury would settle down just a little. Of course, that was wishful thinking. Hiccup was simply going to have to wait for an excuse to leave.

 _Yeah, like when my supplies run out,_ he thought grimly. _Because knowing Dagur, we're going to spending a few days out here._

The bushes continued to rustle, and Dagur primed his crossbow to fire at a moment's notice. Deathblade also stood at the ready, grinding the blades on his arms in anticipation, like he had done earlier in the canyon.

"That sounds more like a wild yak..." muttered Hiccup, only for the Berserker Chief to shush him.

Another second of rustling, however, and who should come stumbling out but Brandyn?

Brandyn saw Hiccup before he saw Dagur and Deathblade, and rushed over. "Hiccup!" he exclaimed. "Boy, am I glad to see you. You would not believe what I've been through. I've never gone this long without Ra and Camazotz, never!"

Shrugging, Hiccup replied, "Think of it as a character-building exercise."

"You sound like my dad," Brandyn joked. It was then he finally noticed that Dagur was there. And Hiccup could truthfully say that he looked like a Pokémon afflicted with the confusion status.

"Is that Dagur?" the Aetherson boy asked. "How did he get out of prison?"

Dagur definitely didn't seem interested in answering that question. Unenthusiastically, he asked, "And you are?"

"Brandyn," the trainer stated, albeit reluctantly. "Brandyn Aetherson."

"Mm, whatever." Dagur turned to Hiccup and said out from the side of his mouth, "I thought you said you were here alone."

Hiccup, being the resourceful Go-Getter he was, rapidly decided to improvise.

"I-I was," he bluffed. Turning to his friend, he scolded, "You were supposed to stay at base camp!"

"What?" Brandyn asked, clear confusion etched on his face.

"While I'm hunting wild dragons here in the forest?" Hiccup continued, placing definite emphasis on those key words.

It didn't take long for Brandyn to pick up on it. "Oh, right, sorry."

Rolling his eyes, Dagur picked up his crossbow and continued down the path, asking, "Bit of an odd one, isn't he?"

"Speak for yourself," Brandyn said to his retreating back.

* * *

There was no sign of the dragons so far, to Adhesive's frustration. He had been looking for almost half an hour, and he hadn't yet seen a single scale of Toothless, or Ebony, or Stormfly...or any of them, for that matter.

But as the Poipole continued down his chosen path, his duffel bag slung over his shoulder, he heard something that just about changed everything. There was someone calling for help nearby, his voice echoing up a tunnel.

"Hey, can someone give me a hand? Hello? Hiccup? Astrid? Blaze? Anyone?"

Adhesive quickly found the tunnel and called down, "Snivels? Is that you?" When the Servine shouted a confirmation, Adhesive dove down into the tunnel, reappearing a minute later carrying Snivels out, albeit with a manner of difficulty.

"What were you doing down there?" he asked, regaining his breath after setting the Servine on the ground. "Or, more importantly, how did you get down there?"

"Long story," Snivels answered. Then he looked up at the Poipole suspiciously. "Why aren't you in the cave with the others?"

Adhesive's expression changed to one of pure anxiety, and his complexion paled to that of a ghost. "I, uh...I may have accidentally fed some Rare Candies to the prevolves, and the dragons all went running out for some reason I don't know," he stated nervously.

Before Snivels could say anything regarding Adhesive's revelation, they both heard a dragonet's cry from the direction of the beach. The place where the Red Death's remains were laying half-buried in the sand.

As much as Snivels wanted to go and see if the dragonet was what he thought it was, there were far more pressing concerns. So long as Dagur and Deathblade were still on the island, every living creature was endangered.

"We'll look for them together," Snivels said. "And we need to move fast."

* * *

Hiccup, Dagur, Deathblade, and their newest companion, Brandyn, hadn't been on the hunt for a Night Fury for long when they ran into another Go-Getter. The Aetherson boy had gone down a side path at Dagur's request, and was pretty apprehensive about it thanks to how dark at was.

Silently, he crept through the undergrowth, when something bumped him in the back. Both Brandyn and the thing he'd bumped into both cried out in surprise.

It was all for naught, though. The froggy form that had accidentally hit Bran was not anything to be concerned about. It was, of course, Ninjark, whose scream caught the attention of not only Heather, but Hiccup as well.

"Ninjark! Heather!" exclaimed Hiccup with false joy, knowing that it was imperative to bring his friends up to speed right this second. "Would you look who it is? It's Dagur and Deathblade, hunting dragons on Dragon Island, just like us."

Ninjark blinked in surprise, some of his fear fading away. He didn't say a word, such was his bewilderment.

"Yes!" Brandyn helpfully agreed, albeit a little too eagerly. "We are dragon hunters, out hunting dragons!"

An eyebrow raised, Dagur commented, "Hiccup, you and I have very different definitions of 'alone'. But maybe...these guys can help us."

"Hunt dragons?" Heather asked out loud before whispering to Brandyn, "We don't have time for this."

"Do we have a choice?" asked Brandyn grimly.

Satisfied now, Hiccup held his draconium shield aloft as he marched down the path, shouting, "Right then, onward!"

When Ninjark and Heather joined the small posse, they found themselves next to Dagur and Deathblade. The Greninja instinctively cringed at the sound of the Bisharp's grinding blades, which seemed to have become a habit of Deathblade.

Heather walked a little closer to Brandyn, gripping his hand in her own as a way of comforting them both.

* * *

"You know, Hiccup," Dagur spoke up again sometime later, "You and I are a lot alike."

More hours had gone past as the party of four humans and two Pokémon continued making their way through the wilds of Dragon Island. Although Dagur, the self-proclaimed leader of the expedition, kept insisting that they were getting close, it was past midnight and there still was no sign of anything remotely close to a Night Fury. And as long as Toothless and his family stayed hidden in the cave with Adhesive, there wouldn't be.

For now, at least. Hiccup didn't know how persistent Dagur was, but from what he could tell, the son of Oswald the Agreeable was quite the committed hunter.

Casually, Hiccup batted a stray branch away. "Really?" he questioned. "H-How's that?"

"Well, you know," added Dagur, chuckling. "We're both born leaders..."

"Can't argue with that," Brandyn muttered.

"...both sons of Chiefs..." he continued.

"Very true," agreed Hiccup.

"...that had to be eliminated so we could gain control!" Dagur finished with a maniacal grin.

Hiccup stopped himself cold when he realized what the dragon hunter had just suggested. The conversation had went from idle to deadly far too quickly for his liking. Stammering, he protested, "N-No no, no, you're wrong. My dad hasn't been eliminated from anything!"

"But he could!" Dagur corrected, the smirk never leaving his face as he heaved his crossbow into attack position. "Just say the word and I'll be like YAAH!"

A shot was launched from his ranged weapon at a mere flick of his finger over the trigger. There was a *BANG* and the splintering of wood. Near the back of the hunting party, Ninjark glanced at the damaged tree only a centimeter from his head.

"Y-Yeah..." Hiccup whispered into the silence that followed. "That's...something to think about..."

His heart was racing. Every moment he spent with Dagur was a moment he wished harder for everything to be over. Every moment was one in which the lives of both himself and his friends were in grave danger – not to mention their dragons.

This lunatic was truly deranged. Hiccup doubted that even the young man's allies were totally safe from him, with his unpredictable mood swings and love of killing anything that moved. He needed a way to escape from Dagur and get off the island, while not jeopardizing the safety of his friends and family...

Suddenly, there was movement in the bushes somewhere up ahead. Dagur picked up on it immediately and whooped, rushing off toward the sound of rustling leaves and aiming his crossbow at whatever might pop out.

And that was precisely when Astrid stalked out from behind a tree and exposed her presence to the group, sans Dagur.

Hiccup's heart leapt. Now that she was here, he felt that maybe things would turn out okay. Before anyone could say anything, however, Astrid shushed them before ducking back into the shadows.

Dagur came back not even a moment later, looking the teeniest, tiniest bit embarrassed as one could get. "Musta been a rabbit," the Berserker chief complained. "Ran off as soon as it heard me coming. It seemed very big, though... But man, this is getting so annoying! There's no sign of a stinking Night Fury anywhere!"

Backing away from Dagur as his voice started rising to worryingly high levels, Hiccup thanked his lucky stars Snivels wasn't around to hear that insult. If he had been, Hiccup was sure he would have said something like, "Night Furies don't stink!"

That was when yet another bush started rustling, and Dagur immediately went on high alert. Ducking down, he motioned for the small amount of Go-Getters to do the same, which they did with caution.

"Which one of your friends is it going to be this time?" he muttered to Hiccup.

"Hard to say," the Go-Getter leader replied with a casual shrug. Then, deciding it couldn't hurt, he added, "We're all pretty serious dragon hunters, you know."

Inside, though, he was wondering about something. _Everyone on this island seems to be pretty fond of coming out of a rustling bush,_ he noticed. _Honestly, it's getting a little old._

Ever so slightly, the foliage parted, and something could be seen moving. It was so dark that it could barely be seen, but it was sniffing around, its head near the ground, like it was looking for something.

Dagur caught the glimpse of dark-colored scales and instantly jumped to the only possible conclusion. He jumped up with a joyous shout, "It's the Night Fury!"

A realization struck Hiccup at that moment, making him freeze. Night Furies were dark in color, yes, but they didn't grow to be as big as the dragon in front of them, and they most certainly didn't have so many spikes on their backs.

He cautioned, "No wait, that's a..."

The creature rose up and spread its wings, its six eyes landing on the group as it tilted its head in curiosity.

Hiccup internally screamed with fright as he recognized the dragon. _Red Death!_

Everyone dropped their respective weapons and literally dove for cover. They all hit the ground, but none of them could hear their own grunts of pain – the dragonet was letting out a cry that reminded Hiccup of how Stormfly's offspring used to call their mother for help. Whatever the baby Red Death was thinking, it seemed to be as afraid of them as they were of it.

Little did anyone know that a group of dragons elsewhere on the island all raised their heads in the direction of the dragonet's cry.

When Dagur got up, he actually started gushing. "So cool!" he exclaimed, picking Hiccup up and enthusiastically shaking him by the shoulders. "Hiccup, my brother, you've done it! You've led me right to something legendary!"

"Wait!" protested Brandyn. "I thought we were after the Night Fury?"

Retrieving his crossbow from where he dropped it, Dagur replied, "Are you kidding me? I'm not about to let this opportunity go to waste! I mean, would you just walk away from one of the most feared dragons in the archipelago?"

No one had the heart to object to that as the Berserker Chief unfolded the heavy projectile launcher and held it in his arms, pulling back the trigger as he readied his shot. The confused and frightened dragonet sat frozen in front of Dagur and Deathblade, unaware of their intentions.

"Arrow, meet dragon!" he sang delightedly. "Dragon, meet –"

Hiccup didn't know what came over him. All of a sudden, the idea of a dragonet meeting its end so soon and unexpectedly took over his mind full force, and that's part of how he came to the conclusion that this dragon had to be given a chance. While it was true Hiccup had come close to death at the claws and teeth of the dragonet's mother, there was something different about the baby – it certainly didn't have the malicious ferocity of its parent. He certainly hadn't been planning on letting Dagur kill him anyway, but this realization only reinforced his belief that this dragon didn't deserve to be killed in cold blood.

"No, no, no, no, no, wait, I'd like to do it," he spoke up, trying to keep his voice calm.

Having been about to shoot, Dagur thankfully put down his crossbow and whined, "But I saw it first!"

"But I led you to it," Hiccup pointed out.

"But I have the crossbow!" Dagur continued to complain. "All you have is that useless ornate shield!" He gestured pointedly to his companion's draconium shield.

A new voice accompanied the sight of Blaze walking down a darkened side path and joining the group. It looked like she had located them just from the volume at which they were shouting. Her wrists were ignited with flames.

"Reeeeeeal mature, boys," she drawled sarcastically.

"Oh, stand aside, Karura," Dagur said dismissively.

"My name is Blaze," she replied, giving him a scowl that suggested he'd be getting a flaming punch right in the face.

As the Blaziken argued with him, the Red Death dragonet turned tail and ran into the undergrowth. Hiccup found himself staring after the dragonet until he could no longer see it.

Dagur, though, was none too pleased to see that his prey had escaped while he was distracted. He was about to chase after it – apparently not realizing in his anger that he had no idea where the dragonet had run off to – when Astrid came running out of her hiding place with a look of frustration.

"What is wrong with you guys?!" she fumed at the group. "You almost had that dragon! Do you have any idea what it is?!"

"Who cares?" Dagur dismissed irritably. "We're hunting a Night Fury here! The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself! Hiccup, did you leave anyone back on Berk?" he added, muttering to himself as he stomped away in the direction the Red Death dragonet had run off in.

"Ha, ha...real funny, Dagur..." Hiccup laughed weakly. As soon as the older teenager was gone, he turned to his wife and asked, "Astrid, do you really want us to kill the dragonet?"

"You nearly got killed fighting one of those," she reminded him. "I would have taken care of it myself if you hadn't been in...questionable company."

Overhearing this, Ninjark blinked in surprise as he remembered he and Heather saw a similar dragon earlier that night. He realized, "That thing must have been sneaking around and following us the whole time!"

As if their conversation had summoned it, the Red Death dragonet emerged from the trees in a different spot than where he had ran away, looking at each member of the group curiously. A couple of people – namely, Astrid and Blaze – jumped in surprise when the dragonet appeared, but that didn't let Astrid miss a beat in her talk with Hiccup.

"There's no way I'm letting that thing anywhere near you," she continued. "Do you have any idea how many times I...?" She stopped when she realized that the others were listening in. Ignoring the heat rising in her cheeks, Astrid gestured for Hiccup to come closer so she could whisper, "How many times I had nightmares about that fight?"

"I can only guess," Hiccup replied, hoping to provide some form of comfort.

Astrid glanced back at where the Red Death dragonet was - or had been, as she realized, to her frustration, that it had disappeared again.

"Didn't Dagur say he and Deathblade are here to hunt a Night Fury?" Blaze asked, sounding shocked.

"Precisely," he confirmed.

"Then Toothless is..." she began.

"Loose," he finished for her. "In fact, if that dragonet hadn't shown up when it did, Dagur would've tracked Toothless down, and he wouldn't have had a chance."

"That means the other dragons are loose, too!" the Hofferson-turned-Haddock hissed out – not just to Hiccup, but to the others as well. "We need to find Adhesive and get on our dragons."

Blaze pointed to their leader and asked, "What about Hiccup?"

"Don't worry, Dagur won't hurt me," he assured them, with a sarcastic roll of the eyes. "I'm his 'brother', apparently."

Dead silence was his only reply.

To drive the point home, Dagur popped up from out of nowhere to put an arm around his 'brother' and steer him after their quarry. "Come, Hiccup!" he declared. "While the trail is still fresh!"

Quick to keep up the illusion, Hiccup called back to his friends in a mock-annoyed tone, "I can't hunt with an entourage. Go back to Berk, leave us to our business!"

And just like that, they were gone.

"Well that's just great," Blaze muttered, kicking at the dirt. "How're we supposed to find the dragons?"

An answering rustle from nearby bushes caused her, and the rest of the group, to turn around. Right there in front of them were Snivels and a very nervous-looking Adhesive.

"Am I glad we finally found you guys!" exclaimed the Servine. "Or, at least some of you. There's so many scents out here, I could hardly focus on which ones belonged to the other Go-Getters."

"And what is he doing here?" asked a very suspicious-sounding Astrid, pointing at Adhesive.

The Poipole chuckled nervously. "Oh, uh...funny story. The prevolves all ate my Rare Candies and some of them evolved, which I take full responsibility for, and uh...the dragons, uh...kinda...sorta...ran off. But that wasn't my fault!"

Even if it hadn't been, he could tell he was still in trouble.

* * *

Toothless hadn't been too far away when the group had their first official encounter with the baby Red Death. Whenever Hiccup and Dagur ran ahead, he would glance bound after then, desperate to get to his friend, even though the area was becoming less forested and much rockier. Without much effort, Dagur and Deathblade both clambered over the ledges and gullies in search of a black dragon.

By no means had Hiccup failed to notice how the Night Fury kept following him. There was very little doubt that the dragon was Toothless. But why was he here? And why did he insist on following his rider when there was a chance Dagur would see him?

"I don't get it!" the Berserker yelled at one point from the top of a ledge, finding nothing for the umpteenth time. "Where are all the Night Furies?!"

"Maybe there aren't any on this island," Hiccup suggested, hoping that Dagur would soon give up.

"You mean they're all somewhere else?" Dagur asked, his voice wild with exhilaration.

Momentarily struck speechless by the notion, Hiccup decided to improvise again. "E-Exactly!" he agreed. "We should turn back."

"Oh, brother," the older of the two chuckled condescendingly. "Don't you know that a hunter never stops hunting the thing a hunter hunts?"

"What does that even mean?" Hiccup asked, confused at the amount of words that had 'hunt' in them.

"I don't know!" Dagur giggled madly, jumping down from his perch with Deathblade following.

Moments after Dagur had charged out of the area with a frantic Hiccup tagging along, a particular dragon bounded after them.

* * *

"You had _one job_ ," said a very agitated Astrid. "Keep an eye on our dragons and Pokémon, and make sure they didn't get into any trouble!"

"I was!" Adhesive protested, rubbing his cheek that was throbbing with pain after Astrid had characteristically punched him in her anger. "I don't see what the big deal is, trainers feed Rare Candies to their Pokémon all the time!"

"Why do you even have Rare Candies?" Heather asked.

Adhesive stammered nervously, "Well...I'm at a relatively low level, and...I like to snack on them sometimes." He quickly added, "But I only take a little bit, when I use them, I mean, those guys each had, like, five, six, seven, maybe eight."

Astrid's eyes flashed dangerously.

"But look on the bright side," Adhesive squeaked out, "Some of the Pokémon have evolved, so..."

Looking intrigued, Brandyn quickly asked, "What about Ra and Camazotz?"

"Uh..." the Poipole hesitated, unsure of what kind of answer Brandyn was hoping for. "They ate some of the Rare Candies, and...they're both Cosmoem now. And they're still in the cave, so you might want to think about getting them."

Brandyn turned around and headed in the direction of the cave to do just that. He hadn't looked the teeniest bit mad at Adhesive, which the Poipole was very thankful for.

Snivels cautiously reached into Adhesive's bag, finding a Rare Candy, which he then pulled out to examine. "Hard to believe someone can have so many Rare Candies at once," he muttered to himself.

"If I had a dollar for every time I heard that," Adhesive mumbled.

Snivels gave his Poipole friend a skeptical look. "How many of these do you have, exactly?"

Adhesive shifted nervously. "Well, it's hard to say, I mean, I've been collecting them for quite a while, and..." He trailed off as he noticed Snivels raising the Rare Candy he was holding dangerously close to his mouth. When the Servine popped the Rare Candy into his mouth, Adhesive fearfully cried out, "No, WAIT!"

He was too late, though, as Snivels had already swallowed it. Adhesive squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the bright light that accompanied a Pokémon's evolution.

But nothing happened.

Adhesive cautiously opened an eye to see Snivels standing there, still a Servine. The taste of the Rare Candy lingering in his mouth, Snivels muttered to himself, "Not bad."

Any further conversation was forgotten when the group heard something crash through the underbrush. They already had a good idea what it was, but that didn't stop them from jumping in surprise when the Red Death dragonet nosed his way through the bushes.

Astrid's hand itched for her double-bladed axe, but Snivels caught the movement and stopped her.

"Wait! Let me try something, first."

Momentarily stunned, Astrid gave him a curt nod.

Being the ever-so-kind and dragon-loving Servine that he was, Snivels grabbed the nearest bit of food he could find - some kind of berry - and held it out to the dragonet. "Come on, little dragonet," he said softly. "We're not gonna hurt you."

The baby Red Death caught the scent of the berry. He didn't know what it was, but he could tell it was something he could eat. He inched his way out of the bushes, nostrils flaring as he followed the scent of the food.

"That's a good boy," Snivels praised. "See? You're gonna be just..."

At that very moment, several of the team's Pokémon burst out into the open from different directions. The sudden movement startled the dragonet, he let out a cry of fright before turning tail and disappearing into the forest.

Ignoring the questioning coo from a glasses-lacking Mawnan the Dartrix, Snivels groaned, "We're not out of the woods yet." Then he remembered exactly what kind of environment they were in and quickly added, "No pun intended."

* * *

A shot from a crossbow whistled through the air, about a foot over the shrubs that the Night Fury's tail had vanished in. Even with Toothless having finally been found out, Hiccup couldn't help but notice that Dagur seemed strangely calm – no, confident – as they continued to give chase to the rare and feared dragon.

"You're not going to hit anything like that," said Hiccup.

"I know, I just want to keep him running in that direction," Dagur informed him.

"Huh?" the Go-Getter leader asked.

"To be honest, I didn't actually come alone either," his 'brother' explained.

Loading a different kind of shot into his crossbow, Dagur aimed it skyward and fired. About two seconds later, there was a loud blast and a burst of fire as the shot exploded midair. Soon, a couple of flaming arrows soared high in answer to Dagur's obvious signal, bright points of light against the midnight black sky.

"Dagur, I don't know everything about dragons, but Night Furies are pretty dangerous," Hiccup warned, hoping to discourage Dagur from continuing the hunt. "A few extra men won't make a difference."

He was kidding himself, of course. He should have known that Dagur could never be discouraged.

"Really?" he smirked. "Well then, good thing I brought Deathblade, the armada, and like a bazillion armed Berserkers! And Dark-types, can't forget those. They really know how to get around at night!"

The stars in the night sky were suddenly blotted out by a rain of flaming arrows so thick that they could have burned half of Berk to the ground.

 _Oh, Arceus almighty,_ Hiccup cursed inwardly.

Dagur pointed toward the coastline, which could be faintly seen from between a pair of rock formations – not to mention several Berserker ships floating there in the water below the cliff. And Hiccup highly doubted that the few he could see was the whole fleet.

"We're gonna drive the dragon to that beach over there, and they can finish him off for us!" Dagur crowed triumphantly.

"Not very sporting," Hiccup remarked, trying not to sound too nervous.

"I don't care about sport," Dagur told him. "I just want to kill that dragon and wear its skull as a helmet!"

 _Of course you do,_ he mentally sighed.

With that, the mad Berserker Chief reloaded his crossbow and began to advance with a menacing grin on the nearest rock formation, behind which he could see the barest tip of a black tail. The boulder was so near the cliff that there could have only been a small piece of solid ground to stand on behind it. The ocean was the Night Fury's only escape route – but if it took that route, it'd put itself in even worse danger than it already was. All it would take was a shout from Dagur for the Berserker armada to start firing their arrows at the fleeing dragon.

But Toothless wasn't about to flee. When Dagur took another step closer, he jumped into the air with an explosion of movement and landed on a nearby boulder, mouth glowing purple as he prepared the blast that would undoubtedly leave Dagur as nothing more than ash in the wind.

Suddenly, a terrible screech rang out into the night, and the poor Night Fury wailed in pain. Both Toothless and Hiccup turned to look at Deathblade, who was grinding the blades on his arms once again. But this time, the noise was much louder, a high-pitched ringing that made the rider and dragon's ears hurt.

 _Metal Sound!_ Hiccup realized. _I should have known – that's how they weaken the dragons!_

The blade-grinding Hiccup had mistaken for a habit of Deathblade's was actually one of the Bisharp's attacks. Metal Sound was most often used to lower the opponent Pokémon's Special Defense, but because sound-based moves also worked on humans and dragons, Dagur and Deathblade had figured out how to use it to immobilize the dragons they were hunting.

Doing his best to ignore the pain throbbing in his ears, Toothless rose higher and unleashed a plasma blast, which collided with the sound waves from Deathblade's Metal Sound and caused an immense explosion that threw the two nearby humans to the edge of the clearing.

Painfully, Dagur got up and grabbed his crossbow, stalking toward the black dragon whose screeches and roars could surely be heard across the entire island. Hiccup managed to wipe the dirt from his face in time to see the Berserker Chief take aim.

Precisely at that moment, something moving caught Hiccup's eye. He stared up at one of the nearby cliffs, and saw a certain Servine (who had cleverly followed the noise from Deathblade's Metal Sound) watching from above. For the first time in a while, he genuinely smiled, and felt a surge of determination that brought him to his feet.

"Alright, that's it," he declared, more to himself than to Dagur. Gripping the handle of his shield and holding it in a battle-ready position, he announced, "I'm not letting you kill the Night Fury."

"This again...?" Dagur sighed, not bothering to turn around and see how Hiccup had his weapon drawn. Resignedly, he put down his own weapon and replied, "Fine, you saw it first. You can take home a wing or something."

"No, I'll pretty much be taking the whole thing," answered Hiccup.

He took his other hand out from behind his back, revealing a dragon whistle shaped like a Night Fury. "AOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!"

With a cry identical to that which came from the whistle, Toothless bounded down from the rock to land beside his rider. Dagur almost fell onto his rear end, his face held in an expression of awe as he took in the Night Fury's sleek, black scales. And then he noticed something else, something that he hadn't expected to be there.

"Wait, is that a..." he muttered.

"Saddle?" Hiccup finished for him, walking confidently to Toothless's side and stroking said object. "Yes."

Barely able to speak, Dagur stammered, "S-So I was..."

"Right all along," Hiccup agreed.

Toothless spread his wings and bared his teeth threateningly. Hiccup jumped onto his dragon's back, feeling a second surge of determination flow through him as he got comfortable in the familiar position.

So distracted by the appearance of the Night Fury, Dagur failed to notice the certain Servine arriving to aide his trainer in the anticipated fight that was going to unfold.

"We no longer hunt dragons on Berk," Hiccup announced. "We ride them."

There was silence as Dagur processed his words. His expression was completely priceless, even in this dire situation.

"Your father lied to – YOU lied to me!" he finally managed to spit out in a sudden rage.

"We were trying to keep the peace between our tribes," Hiccup replied calmly.

"By making a FOOL out of me?!" Dagur screeched.

"You don't really need us to help you with that," Snivels drawled, the sarcastic comment coming out of a habit he had picked up from his trainer. "Your move, Dagur."

"You could've been my brother, Hiccup!" the enraged Berserker yelled.

"I wouldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for Toothless and Snivels," Hiccup shot back, not afraid in the least. He probably should have been, but he had his friends by his side. "They're my real brothers."

Mentally, Snivels was doing a sort of happy dance that would have been ridiculous to physically perform under such circumstances.

Gritting his teeth, Dagur raised his crossbow. "Poor choice of family, Hiccup!"

A very reasonably offended Snivels challenged, "Want to be enemies? Have it your way. But remember, we have dragons on our side, and we're not afraid to use them."

Before anyone could even blink, a pair of bolas snagged Toothless's wings, preventing him from flying. Another bola twirled through the air, catching Toothless on the chin and tying his mouth shut so he couldn't launch his plasma blasts. There was a bright flash of light on metal as Dagur unclipped his axe from his back and brought it over his head, ready to chop open Toothless's skull with the edge of the blade.

Snivels went to stop the Berserker, but found Deathblade blocking his path. The Servine darted to the side, barely avoiding a Night Slash from his new rival.

Rolling out of the saddle in a move that would have impressed even Astrid, Hiccup used his shield to block Dagur's strike. They exchanged blows, then Dagur managed to use the curve of his axe to tear the shield from Hiccup's hands and throw it away.

Fortunately, Dagur failed to account for the topography on which their battle took place, for the draconium shield struck a nearby boulder and bounced off, twirling right into Hiccup's outstretched hand. When Dagur next approached, Hiccup swung the shield, knocking the axe right out of his opponent's hands.

By no means weaponless, Dagur unsheathed a pair of daggers (no pun intended) and held them aloft, laughing maniacally as he charged back into battle. Hiccup held his shield up, ready to retaliate – and then Toothless's tail lashed out and whipped Dagur in the rear end, sending him skidding into the dirt.

Unfortunately, he landed right next to his crossbow.

The Berserker Chief snatched up the projectile weapon and immediately let fly with a hail of shots. Hiccup ducked, then rolled behind a tree. He spotted Snivels and Deathblade exchanging attacks, though most of Snivels's moves were easily deflected by Deathblade. Anything that wasn't made of fire, or fighting or ground-based, had a hard time getting past the strong defenses of a Steel-type. The Servine soon joined his trainer in hiding behind the tree. Another hail of arrows whistled past the tree, some of them striking the tree with loud cracks of fracturing bark.

"Your move, Hiccup," chuckled Dagur, clearly congratulating himself on how he turned Snivels's words against them.

Cautiously peeking out from behind his hiding place, Hiccup was immediately met with another barrage. He was lucky his reflexes were so good from so many months of training, or else he wouldn't have been able to duck back behind the tree before the shots made a mess of his face.

"You can't hide forever!" Dagur crowed.

That was when Hiccup and Snivels saw where the Berserker chief was standing, and they exchanged a knowing grin. They didn't need to hide forever – or at all, in fact.

"We don't plan to!" Hiccup declared, grabbing one of the arrows embedded in the tree. He then leapt out and held up his shield, which started changing. The center hub swung out and the shield split open down the middle, swinging open to reveal a hidden crossbow mode. Hiccup then loaded the arrow he'd been holding and fired it back at Dagur, who rolled away and avoided it.

"Nice try, brother," Dagur mocked.

Not so easily deterred, Hiccup reverted the crossbow back to a shield and pressed the hidden trigger, launching the grappling rope which wrapped around a thick, half-dead branch in the tree above Dagur's head.

Dagur laughed and taunted, "Missed!"

"Oh, did I?" Hiccup grinned.

He gave the shield a strong tug. There was a cracking sound, and the heavy tree limb smashed Dagur into the ground.

"I have got to get me one of those ornate shields!" was what he said when he was able to think straight again.

Without any effort at all, he leapt to his feet despite the weight of the branch pinning him to the ground. Hiccup was at Toothless's side in little more than an instant, frantically sawing through the ropes that bound him with a small knife. But he wasn't fast enough to finish before Dagur tackled him to the ground.

Manic laughter filled Hiccup's ears as he tried to use his shield to push Dagur away. But the older boy was using his weight to push the other way, and Hiccup's arms were starting to shake as the strength left him. He grimaced, hoping to throw his enemy off with only one more push...

Then he spotted Snivels standing face-to-face with Deathblade. The Servine was doing something with his tail, but it wasn't a Leaf Tornado. There were several green, glowing leaves spinning around Snivels's tail, which all suddenly went flying towards Deathblade. The Bisharp held up his arms to defend himself, but the move proved to be too much, and he was blown backwards, right into his master, who toppled off of Hiccup.

Hiccup didn't need a book or flashcards to know what move Snivels had just used.

Leaf Storm.

While Dagur and Deathblade were stunned, Hiccup and Snivels ran back to Toothless's side and sliced through the remaining ropes, freeing the Night Fury. "You didn't tell me you could use that move," Hiccup said to his Pokémon partner, amazement etched on his facial features.

Snivels shrugged nonchalantly. "I never could before. Maybe it has something to do with that Rare Candy I ate..."

The three friends looked up when they heard an audible *sh-shiiiiing* - it was Dagur, picking up his axe and Deathblade readying his blades. After pausing for only a moment, the trainer and his Servine mounted Toothless as Dagur and Deathblade charged at them.

"Come on, bud!" yelled Hiccup, pulling on the saddle.

It didn't look like they was going to make it...

"Leave our friends alone!" came another cry, followed by the sight of the rest of Hiccup's Pokémon charging toward the fight.

Dagur was so distracted by the sudden appearance of the Pokémon that he almost forgot about Hiccup, Snivels and Toothless. That sealed his fate, as another plasma blast shot toward him as soon as he looked away. He hit a tree, then slid over the cliff with limbs flailing in a futile attempt to catch the edge.

Fortunately for the Berserker Chief, there was a smaller cliff just below, so he ended up landing painfully instead of fatally. Hiccup ran to the edge and saw him already climbing back up with a snarl on his face. "Let's see how you like a bit of this," the Berserker chief muttered, before yelling out, "Deathblade, Guillotine, now!"

Hiccup half-expected Dagur to erroneously pronounce the "l's" in the word, as most Vikings did, but the older teen pronounced the word exactly as it was supposed to be.

Deathblade didn't miss a beat. The blades on the Bisharp's elbows turned light blue and extended greatly as he got ready to slash the other Pokémon with Guillotine.

Luckily for Hiccup and his team, Guillotine was a hard move to land, like all attacks that resulted in one-hit knockouts. While easily evading Deathblade's Guillotine, Hiccup's Pokémon all launched attacks of their own. Amber with Flamethrower, Crackers with Water Gun, Tito with Thunderbolt, Verne with Dragon Pulse, Spike with a recently-learned Power-Up Punch, Chomper with Dig, Mawnan with Razor Leaf, Buddy with Flame Charge, and Kickin' Hawk did the honors of landing the final blow with Flying Press.

Dagur managed to pull himself up over the cliff in time to see Deathblade faint, unable to continue fighting. Angry, the Berserker chief lunged at Hiccup, only to be blocked by Amber, who defensively swung her claws at Dagur, nailing him right around his left eye. With a howl of pain, Dagur clutched his face and he tumbled all the way down to the bottom of the cliff. Now on the beach off which his armada was docked, he frantically wiped his eyes – to no avail, as a dark liquid was now gluing his lids together – and ran blindly toward the beach, screaming about the pain in his eye and the dragon and Pokémon attacks.

Hiccup and Amber glanced at the claws on her right hand, which were covered with the same dark liquid. Even in the poor light of the breaking dawn, Hiccup could tell it was not blood. He was stumped at first as to what it could be, until he remembered that Dagur had claw mark tattoos near and on his left eye, where Amber had slashed him.

It was ink.

Which meant that Dagur now had _**real**_ claw marks on his face, not tattoos.

The other trainers, as well as their dragons and Pokémon, gathered around Hiccup. Mounting Toothless and putting away his shield, Hiccup breathlessly told them, "Dagur and his men will be coming for us any moment now."

"What about the dragonet?" Snivels asked, frowning.

"We'll come back for him," Hiccup promised. "Right now, we need to get off this island. Dagur will be back...and when he is, we're going to be ready for him."

"No argument there," Adhesive said, a little eager at what he expected to come. "Next time, I'm getting a piece of the action!"

Astrid glared at him. "Don't poke the Ursaring, mister, you're in enough trouble as it is."

Adhesive winced at the idea of what was going to be coming his way when they all got back to the Ice Caves.

All of Team Go-Getters then took off as Hiccup led the way back to the Resistance. It wouldn't be a long journey – but it would definitely be a quiet one, as Team Go-Getters took the time to realize exactly the kind of trouble they were only just getting into.

They had a lot to tell Fjord when they got back. Much more than they had anticipated, after their scouting mission had turned out far from what they had each expected.

And then there was that Red Death dragonet...where had it gone, and would they ever see it again?

It was simply too much uncertainty to take in only one night.

* * *

 _With every new day, there's a new enemy. That's just how it is for us. Now that Dagur knows we're allied with the dragons, he's our new enemy._

 _But even though he's dangerous, so are we._

* * *

 **I wanted to do something that would sort of symbolize Dagur now being a more official enemy to Team Go-Getters, and I sorta thought replacing one of his claw mark tattoos with real claw marks would get that job done.** **Since this series is supposed to be meant for readers of different ages, I didn't want to make the scene with Amber slashing Dagur to protect Hiccup too graphic. But I guess ink from a tattoo oozing out of someone's body is as disturbing as blood, if you look at it a certain way.**

 **On a side note, not a fan of tattoos. I see no purpose in having one.**

 **And for those of you who are wondering if the Rare Candy is what made Snivels learn Leaf Storm, I will tell you that it MAY HAVE had something to do with it, but I like to think Snivels figured out how to use the move all on his own.**

 **The next episode is another I look forward to writing, so be sure to leave some reviews!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Attack of the Prehistoric Pokémon

 **The living fossil Pokémon from the older anime were hiding underground, as were the Whispering Deaths in "Tunnel Vision," so I figured a plot that had some similarities and callbacks to the Indigo League episode would serve as a good substitute for the Defenders of Berk episode. Those who don't agree may stop reading the chapter at this point.**

* * *

 _When disaster strikes, usually we have to ask ourselves if we're in the frying pan, or the fire. Unfortunately, we more often than not find ourselves in the frying pan._

 _Sometimes, the pan is so bad that we can't even imagine what the fire could be. Reality can give us a rude awakening._

* * *

There was something on the loose in the Ice Caves.

It was quite large, but surprisingly fast.

It was elusive, able to dive into a cave room before anyone could even question whether or not they had just seen it.

It was deadly, able to chomp off a Deadly Nadder's head with a single bite.

And most of all...

It was really only a baby.

The concerned cry of a particular Servine cut through the brisk morning air inside the caves. "Come on, guys, we gotta find him!" he bellowed, hot on the heels of his hard-to-catch target. "We're supposed to be training him!"

Dragons and Pokémon shot past Snivels, Toothless in the lead. The flying creatures split up in perfect sync, each heading toward a different part of the Ice Caves so as to cover more ground. It was absolutely vital that they didn't miss their target.

Stormfly's sharp nose picked up the scent of the dragonet as it moved quickly and stealthily down another tunnel. "I didn't think he could move that fast...!" Blaze's voice spoke up from surprisingly close by.

The Blaziken and Nadder quickly pulled ahead, gaining ground on their quarry. He must have seen or heard them coming, because he quickly abandoned his current path and made a sharp turn directly into the main cavern.

"Cut him off!" Snivels ordered desperately.

Dragons began to land in a circle around whom they had been chasing, blocking off every possible escape route. The trainers, however, were absent. It was still quite early in the morning, and, if the dragons and Pokémon were lucky, it would be a little while before they woke up.

Snivels came up from the path directly in front of the dragonet, with Toothless and Verne landing behind him to provide backup in case their new team member tried anything desperate.

Hiccup had kept the promise he made to Snivels that they would go back and find the Red Death dragonet they'd encountered on Dragon Island just a week ago. The team had taken him to the Ice Caves, since there weren't many other places he could be without being mauled by angry Vikings.

"You really need to stop running off," Snivels said gently. "Next time something startles you, come straight to me, okay?" Sure, the Servine had his fair share of negative encounters with the dragonet's mother, but he very much supported the idea of giving the little fellow a chance.

Crooning softly, the baby Red Death padded over to Snivels, his head held down low. Snivels gave him a comforting smile and patted his nose, to which the dragonet responded by nuzzling the Servine affectionately.

"That's a good boy," Snivels laughed.

"You're really sure he's a boy?" Adhesive asked, somewhat nervous.

Snivels looked at him. "How do you think the queen was able to lay that egg?"

"Speaking of eggs," Blaze said, rolling a large object forward. "Take a crack at this, Snivs."

Indeed, the object was an egg, and at first glance it resembled that of a Whispering Death. But it was much larger, and it was colored white with red spots.

Adhesive remarked, "I remember, one of the scouts found it in an abandoned tunnel and brought it here for us to study. Whoever laid that was obviously big on digging underground."

Snivels patted the Red Death dragonet one last time before approaching the egg. He didn't recognize the scent of it, but he knew that it was a Whispering Death that laid it. "Interesting," he muttered to himself. "That's the second largest egg I've ever seen."

" _Second_ largest?!" a stunned Palus asked.

Blaze nodded at the Marshtomp in confirmation. "Yep. There's the first." She pointed at the Red Death dragonet.

Snivels hadn't really seen the Red Death's egg before it had hatched, having only just discovered the recently-born dragonet during their last escapade on Dragon Island. But anyone who found the scattered eggshells would be able to tell that the egg had definitely been big - really big.

"We'll have to examine it later," Snivels said. "Right now, we need to clean up Mortem's mess before our trainers wake up."

Ninjark gave him a look of confusion. "Mortem?"

Snivels pointed to the Red Death dragonet. "Well, we need to call him something, don't we?"

Mortem crooned in approval at his new name.

* * *

Thankfully, there were no signs or even mention of Mortem's earlier episode when Hiccup and the other trainers came to the dining hall for breakfast. The one odd thing they found was Snivels sitting on top of the egg Blaze had shown him.

"I'm not even going to ask," Hiccup decided, reaching for a plate of toasted bread slices.

On the other side of the room, Fjord and Drageist were having a discussion.

"We don't know for sure if they're ready," said the Giratina. "Obera's been keeping an eye on them in the sanctuary dimension, but every creature responds differently to rehabilitation."

The Kyurem laid one of his ice-covered tendrils on his friend's shoulder. "I know we've been lucky with the hybrids created in Ultra Megalopolis, but Pokémon and dragons are both very intelligent creatures. I'm sure we can help them adjust to life here."

"They still have primal instincts," Drageist said, visibly worried. "Who knows what'll happen when the big guy gets hungry."

"Which is why we'll start small," said Fjord, "And then we'll work our way up until we get to Fossilwing."

"But he..." Drageist began, then stopped himself. "Alright, who should we start with?"

"Nautilus," Fjord answered, not missing a single beat. "Doesn't get much easier than an Omanyte." He quickly added as Drageist turned to walk away, "While you're at it, you may give them a tour of the sanctuary, if you wish."

Drageist chuckled. "Hope it goes better than the last time I showed them around another dimension."

"Hroar's long gone," Fjord reminded him. "At least, in the canon timeline. I've yet to find any trace of him in this world."

"He might not exist in this world," suggested Drageist. "If we're lucky enough, anyway."

Hiccup was unaware of the discussion, given that there were other matters he wanted to address that day, such as what they'd be doing with Mortem when they had to return to Berk next week. The poor little (or rather, big) dragonet would be killed the minute he set foot in the village, or on the island, for that matter.

 _We'll figure it out,_ Hiccup promised himself. _Mortem deserves a second chance._

He very nearly froze when he realized that the shadow of a certain Giratina was bathing him in darkness. He turned to look up at Drageist, whose warm smile eliminated the ghostly theme of his species. "Fjord and I have a new assignment for you and your friends."

Hiccup wasn't given much time to answer before Drageist created a portal. "There are a few creatures we know that could use some rehabilitation. Seeing as how you Go-Getters seem to be quite good at that sort of thing, we were thinking you might be able to help."

Hiccup thought for a moment before he shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"You might want to leave the dragons," Drageist said quickly. "The creatures in this world are less intelligent, and prone to attacking unfamiliar animals."

That was fine. A good deal of the dragons had barely reached adolescence, anyway.

"But you still need to tread with caution," Drageist added.

Snivels climbed down from the egg he'd been sitting on. "Astrid and her team can provide a strong defense if there are any problems. Especially if Hiccup is involved." That last part was accompanied by a smug grin.

"One cannot always rely on the same source to be the solution to every problem," Drageist said.

Hiccup opened his mouth to speak, but found Amber standing in front of him, her head held high. "I can protect Hiccup if I have to!"

Drageist shook his head. "I hate to break it to you, but all of the prehistoric Pokémon are part Rock-type."

As much as Amber didn't like Rock-type Pokémon, she wasn't about to back down. "Hiccup and Snivels saved my life. I'd do anything to protect them."

The trainer and Servine were touched, to say the least, at the Charmeleon's words.

Not wanting to be kept waiting any longer, Adhesive flew through the portal, cell phone in hand. "Pictures last longer than memories!"

The only non-dragon team member that didn't end up traveling through was Buddy. He'd been about to enter when Snivels held up a hand to stop him. "Buddy, you stay here and keep an eye on the dragons for us, okay?" No sooner after the Type: Null had nodded, Snivels disappeared through the portal, which then vanished.

Instant awkward silence fell upon Buddy and the dragons. It was only broken by a growl from Buddy's empty stomach. He looked to the breakfast table and found a plate that had only a few bites of scrambled eggs left on it. The hungry Type: Null devoured them so fast, it was like they had magically disappeared. Still hungry, Buddy's eyes landed on the large egg Snivels had been sitting on earlier.

Let it be known that, since Buddy was created by Arceus instead of hatched out of an egg, he'd only ever known eggs as a source of food. Momentarily forgetting about the dragons, Buddy trotted over to the egg, placed his front talons up on it, and rolled it away toward the kitchen caverns.

Oh, how he loved a good omelet.

* * *

The sky was a little overcast where Team Go-Getters had arrived. Every turn provided an entirely different environment, a dense forest on the left and a chilling snow-covered field on the right. Forwards, a beach accompanied by a vast ocean. Backwards, a field of tall grass that never seemed to end. Somewhere between all that was a bone-dry desert, a muddy swamp, and a mountain of rocks.

It was almost as weird as the Distortion World.

Key word: almost.

"This is what we call the sanctuary" Drageist spoke up, "While its exact location in the Multiverse is unknown by most, it provides a safe home for the creatures most timelines have forgotten."

Hiccup was too stunned to speak, so Astrid decided to herself. "What kinds of creatures, exactly?" Her tone carried suspicion and a bit of annoyance. She wasn't big on traveling between worlds, especially after what had happened the last time they'd done so.

As if on cue, a small, feathered reptile, about the height of a person's thighs, ran past them towards the desert area. "Dinosaurs," was Drageist's answer.

The next few sentences came from an excited Adhesive. "Yes! I can't tell you guys how long it's been since I last saw one in person! I mean, I had to take a course on prehistoric life at Ultra Megalopolis University, but they just used textbooks and holograms, we didn't actually interact with any live specimens." The Poipole continued running his mouth no matter whether they gave him attention or not. "Am I glad I brought my phone so I can take pictures," he said, gazing at his device like it was a precious diamond (which, to him, it was). "I've been dying to get good shots of my favorite dinosaurs to decorate my web page. It might help me get more views on my YouTube channel. T-rex, Velociraptor, Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, Brachiosaurus...hey, why do they call it that?"

His question made Drageist look at him in confusion. "What?"

"Deinonychus," he informed, now twirling his phone in his hand. "It's a member of the raptor family, right? Why do they call it that? If you're gonna name a dinosaur, then you've gotta give it a name that sounds awesome. Deinonychus doesn't sound awesome. It sounds like..." He paused, then spoke slowly, emphasizing each of the next four words. "Dine. On. A. Cuss." Ignoring the looks of confusion the four trainers were giving him, Adhesive concluded, "Dine on a cuss. Which does _**not**_ sound awesome!"

Everyone turned to each other and raised their eyebrows, their faces the epitome of skepticism.

"That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard," Astrid finally said, deadpan.

Little did she know that Adhesive wasn't actually dumb, just ahead of their time.

Waaaaaaaaay ahead of their time.

"You do what you like, and I'll do what I like," he stated, secretly disappointed that they didn't understand what he'd been getting at.

Keeping himself aware of how many different environments they had to choose from, Brandyn brushed a few stray strands of hair out of his eyes and asked, "What sort of creatures are we going to be rehabilitating? If I'm not mistaken, every creature goes through the process differently."

"That's exactly what I told Fjord," Drageist replied. "Luckily, we're only dealing with prehistoric Pokémon today. They're rather primal, so I'd proceed with caution if I were you."

"Can't be any worse than Vikings," Snivels muttered, mostly to himself.

It was loud enough for Amber to hear. "They're the very definition of primeval."

Brandyn ignored the last two comments, his hand drifting into his pocket where the immobile Ra and Camazotz were resting. Despite their minuscule size, Cosmoem were, on record, the heaviest Pokémon in existence, tied with the Ultra Beast Celesteela. He was lucky they were able to levitate, or their combined weight would have pinned him to the floor, or even drag him through the ground all the way to the other side of the Earth.

"Where can we find them?" Heather asked. Then she quickly added, "The prehistoric Pokémon, I mean."

"They prefer different kinds of environments," Drageist explained, matter-of-factly. "Omanyte, Kabuto and Tirtouga like areas near water, like the beach. Lileep, despite being a Grass-type, lives on the ocean floor. Anorith also prefers water-based environments. Cranidos, Shieldon, Archen, and Tyrunt prefer dense forests and jungles. The last two live in the mountains, Amaura wherever there's snow, and Aerodactyl on steep cliffs near caves."

With that, the Giratina aimed his head towards the sky and fired a light blue ball of energy into the air. The Aura Sphere soon exploded, releasing pulses of light that could be seen from everywhere.

Prehistoric Pokémon from all over the area caught sight of the light and began moving towards it. They knew it as a sign that Giratina was calling for them. Drageist picked out one of each species, among which was Nautilus, the Omanyte Fjord mentioned earlier, and then sent the rest back to the areas where they resided.

Elsewhere, in the mountains, light from the Aura Sphere seeped in through the rocks that had been used to block the entrance to a cave. Inside, the large purple Pokémon noticed the light. Steeling himself, Fossilwing pushed against the rocks that blocked his only exit. He'd tried this many times before, but this time, for some unknown reason, a few good shoves did the trick. The rocks fell away, leaving the large Fossil Pokémon free to step out into the sunlight. Fossilwing licked his lips in anticipation.

It had been a while since he'd last had a fresh meal.

* * *

In the Resistance kitchens, Buddy had somehow managed to balance the large egg on his head. He was trying to push it into a large cooking pot that had been hung over a fire pit. It took him longer than he thought it would, since the egg was really heavy, and the lid of the pot was relatively high. But finally, on what seemed like the two millionth try, the egg tilted over the opening of the pot and fell right in with a loud *clang!*

After stopping to catch his breath, Buddy proceeded to light the firewood below the pot with fire from his Flame Charge. Seeing the fire lit, he went to the cabinets to gather condiments and utensils he'd need.

Ketchup? Maybe.

Relish? Nope.

Horseradish? Definitely not.

Napkin? For sure.

Salt and pepper? Yep.

As he gathered the items, the Type: Null failed to notice a cracking sound from within the pot that gradually got louder as the egg was incubated. He did notice, however, when a sudden explosion blew both the egg and the cooking pot to bits. Dropping all that he'd gathered, Buddy ran over and found a white serpentine dragonet with piercing red eyes and sharp spines covering its whole body climbing out of the wreckage.

The dragonet shrieked, and the frightened Buddy turned tail and ran out of the room, thinking to himself, _What has happened to my precious omelet?_

At that moment, the rest of Team Go-Getters was arriving from their visit in the sanctuary, along with the prehistoric Pokémon Drageist had gathered. No sooner after Hiccup stepped through the portal, Buddy came barreling into him, literally shaking with fear.

"Buddy!" Hiccup said as he strained to push the Type: Null off of himself. "What's gotten into you?"

The Type: Null stammered out something in his own language, which Snivels translated in the form of a disbelieving question. "A monster in the kitchen?"

Buddy nodded frantically. He then proceeded to act out everything that had happened to him while they were gone in a series of gestures and enactments that would later be known as pantomime.

"We should check it out," Hiccup decided. He, Snivels, Toothless and a still-frightened Buddy cautiously entered the kitchen caverns, their eyes scanning everywhere for signs of the "monster."

A clattering noise from inside the cabinets caught Toothless's attention, and he growled warningly. Buddy took it as a sign to duck behind the Night Fury.

Shaking slightly, Snivels approached the cabinets and, in one swift movement, opened the doors. He gasped loudly.

Assuming the worst, Hiccup grabbed his draconium shield and held it up, ready to use it when necessary.

He needn't worry however, as Snivels hadn't gasped out of fear. "What are you doing in there, little guy?" he asked in a tone of voice he used whenever he talked to dragonets. He reached into the cabinet and pulled out the serpentine dragonet, though with some difficulty since it was almost bigger than he was. "Did that Type: Null scare you? Don't worry, I think he was scared of you more. Let's get you something to eat. Is that what you want? Have you been looking for some nom-noms?"

His demeanor changed when the dragonet tried to bite his nose. "Hey! Don't do that!" He smacked the dragonet's nose a few times to make sure he got the message. "No biting! Not nice!"

It wasn't long after that when the other three trainers and their partners entered the room. Only to freeze when the noticed the rather scary-looking dragonet.

"Okay, stop," Blaze said to no one in particular. "What is _that_?"

"I don't know," murmured Hiccup, setting his shield aside so he could comfortingly rub Toothless's muzzle. "But as long as Snivels can handle it..."

"He can," Drageist said from behind them, making everyone jump in surprise. He couldn't help overhearing. "Because I know what that is. Residents here at the Resistance have encountered a subspecies of the Whispering Death that's born once every century. The dragons hatch from larger-than-average eggs laid by a mother Whispering Death, who's the only dragon that holds authority over her mutant dragonet. The mutant dragon is known to command several of its less dangerous relatives, essentially becoming the bigwings, or leader, of the pack."

"Bigwings," Snivels mused. He looked at the dragonet he was holding. "What do you think of that name?"

The newly-christened Bigwings's answer was a shrill shriek that made every dragon within earshot roar painfully. The dragonet only stopped screaming when Brandyn offered him a cupcake-like pastry he had made himself. Without taking the time to see what it was, Bigwings took in the food in one bite.

While Brandyn checked to see that all his fingers were still intact, Snivels chuckled at the dragonet. "You really were hungry, weren't you?"

His answer came in the form of Bigwings spitting out the pastry in disgust.

Brandyn barely avoided the flying foodstuff that had previously been in the dragonet's mouth. "Must not be meant for dragons," he muttered to himself.

Snivels looked around at the fellow team members that had gathered. "Anyone got a fish, or something?"

Heather quickly handed over a mackerel she'd been saving for Windshear. Snivels showed it to Bigwings, who gulped it down, then purred with satisfaction.

The change in the dragonet's attitude made Buddy finally feel comfortable enough to creep out from his hiding place behind Toothless. Snivels smiled at his friend. "See, Buddy? He's not so bad. He was just a little freaked out, that's all."

Feeling calmer, Buddy crept forward to examine Bigwings.

Suddenly, the dragonet sneezed, and all of the spines covering his serpentine body stood up, making him resemble an overgrown pufferfish. The sudden action startled Buddy, who ran right back to where he'd been hiding mere moments before.

Amber suddenly ran in, panting a little as if she were trying to catch her breath. Hiccup guessed she had been running.

"You left the portal open," the Charmeleon said to Drageist. "The one that leads to the sanctuary."

The Giratina gasped in horror.

* * *

Sure enough, the swirling doorway to another dimension was still present when the group returned to the dining hall. Drageist quickly waved a wing, and the portal vanished. "Let's hope nothing came through while our backs were turned," he said, scanning the room. The only prehistoric creatures to be seen were the ones that he had handpicked to bring back with them.

"I don't see what the big deal is," said Ninjark. "We'd be able to handle whatever came through, right?"

Adhesive shuddered. "Two words: Jurassic Park."

"You probably shouldn't make too many references, cellphone kwami," Brandyn said, shaking his head.

The Poipole stiffened for a few brief seconds before giving his friend an annoyed glare. "Hey! I am NOT a kwami!"

Snivels looked over Adhesive carefully, comparing him to what he remembered Sass and Longg had looked like. He shrugged. "Well, you kinda look like one."

Adhesive wasn't going to argue with that, seeing as how the Servine was right.

Drageist quickly brought their attention back to their assigned task. "You kids start working on rehabilitating the prehistoric Pokémon," he said. "I'll have to keep an eye out, in case anything did come through while we weren't looking."

* * *

Unfortunately for Team Go-Getters, something did come in through the portal while Drageist was distracted.

But on the bright side, it wasn't a dinosaur.

Fossilwing flew down the winding tunnels of the Ice Caves, his sharp eyes taking in every detail. It was his first time since forever being in a world outside the sanctuary, so he was unfamiliar with the glittering beauty of the icicles and permafrost.

His inner confusion vanished at the sound of his grumbling stomach.

This Aerodactyl had one heck of an appetite.

* * *

 **I know for a fact that Deinonychus means "terrible claw," but I couldn't help but notice that little trick to what its name sounds like! Anyone else notice that, too? Even if you didn't, you gotta admit it's kinda funny.**

 **In this universe, "bigwings" is the term for the leader of a pack of dragons. By that logic, you guys should be able to name Team Go-Getters' bigwings in a heartbeat.**

 **Reviews are appreciated.**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Charizard vs. Aerodactyl

 **Come on, you all knew this was coming.**

* * *

Snivels often gathered information first before attempting to train a new dragon. It was always better to have all the facts first, after all.

Bigwings sat in front of the Servine, his blood red eyes narrowed in confusion. As much as Snivels couldn't help but feel the dragonet's eyes were burning into his soul, he was quite used to being stared at. He had to deal with it when he first spoke out loud in front of the Berkians, and he had dealt with it from dragons several times.

The Prince of Pokémon double-checked to see he had the paper and writing utensils he needed before smiling at the white, serpentine dragonet. "Alright, Bigwings, let's see what you can do."

The dragonet wasted no time tunneling underneath the frosted floor of the Ice Caves. He'd prefer dirt, but this would do.

Snivels had anticipated that. Whatever Bigwings was, he definitely had Whispering Death qualities. He hastily scribbled down what he'd seen on a blank sheet of paper moments before Bigwings burst out from underground and fired a few of his spines at the cave walls.

Then the dragonet let out a screech, and every other dragon who could hear it roared in pain and attempted to cover their ears.

Now on a roll, Bigwings sucked in a breath before several rapid-fire balls of flame came shooting out of his mouth. And once he started, he couldn't seem to stop. Snivels dodged several of the fireballs before the firing ceased, leaving a tired Bigwings breathing heavily.

Snivels muttered to himself as he took notes. "Gatling shots of fire..." Once he was finished, he smiled at Bigwings. "That is all I need to see. Now, your species needs a name. Since you're related to Whispering Deaths, and you're able to produce such a disorienting scream, maybe it should be..." He stopped to think for a moment before finishing. "Screaming Death. What do you think?"

Bigwings hissed in content.

"Then let's begin training, shall we?" Snivels asked rhetorically.

Moments later, Bigwings was surrounded by a multitude of different dragons, mostly dragonets. He hissed, this time in annoyance, and the dragons near him shifted away a little.

Snivels stood at the very front, talking professionally like a teacher. "As you may have noticed, we have a new dragon joining us today. Everyone say hello to Bigwings."

No one made a single noise.

Snivels continued nonetheless. "When we leave the Ice Caves, there will be a lot of conflict. Conflict means enemies, and enemies mean battle. One of the most important rules in battle is being able to tell friends from foes. So, what we're going to do is, one of you will come up in front of the group and tell everyone something about yourself. Knowing our allies is key in battle, as it helps us develop a bond with them, which is key to victory. Now, who wants to go first?"

Pin-drop silence fell upon the room. Snivels scanned the crowd of dragons in anticipation. "Anyone?" His eyes fell on Toothless and Ebony's dragonets. "Alba, let's start with you."

The blue-eyed, white dragonet jumped back a little in surprise. Snivels gently coaxed her forward. "Come on, don't be shy." Alba held her head down as she padded forward, following the sound of Snivels's voice. The Servine patted her head as she settled in front of the group next to him. "Now, is there anything you'd like to share about yourself?"

Alba took one look at all the dragons staring at her before she tucked her head into her wings. Whatever she grumbled out, no one could hear.

"That's okay," said a sympathetic Snivels. "We'll come back to you later." He escorted the shy little baby back to her siblings. "Who wants to go next?"

Seeing how no one else was volunteering, Terrorspin the Whispering Death slithered forward. The almost-fully-grown dragon didn't wait for Snivels to give him permission to speak. " _My name is Terrorspin, and I'm a Whispering Death. I like getting my teeth brushed, and my favorite food is carp_."

Bigwings eyed his (slightly) larger cousin with interest. _At least there's one dragon I know I'll like._

* * *

Brandyn sat and stared sullenly at the two Cosmoem that were levitating in front of him. He'd pulled Ra and Camazotz out of his pocket hoping they would at least say something to him. Heck, he'd even take a teasing song about him and Heather being in love.

Not one. Single. Word.

A peck on the arm from Aria the Shiny Swablu got Brandyn's attention off his two partners. Aria opened her beak as soon as her trainer's eyes landed on her. He sighed, "Alright." He reached into his satchel and pulled out a small box filled with pastries like the one he'd offered to Bigwings. He grabbed one of the less decorative ones and gave it to Aria, who gobbled it right up before fluttering away.

"What are those?"

The question came from Heather. While Brandyn had been hoping for something else to take his mind off of Ra and Camazotz, he wasn't quite sure she was the person he wanted to talk to right then and there. Putting the box back in his satchel, he answered, "They're sort of a family recipe. The people on my home island practically worshipped Pokémon, and my parents and I used to make these little treats for them. We were gonna name these after we got back from our fishing trip, and you can probably guess how well that turned out." That last part was accompanied by a reasonable tone of sadness.

Heather glanced over her shoulder at Ninjark, who gestured for her to join Brandyn. Taking the Greninja's advice, she sat down on the icy floor next to her friend. "Do you still want to name them?"

"Every time I try, I'm reminded of my parents," Brandyn said, averting his eyes. "I can still hear their screams from when the boat overturned and they disappeared beneath the waves. I'm sorry, but it hurts too much."

Heather wasn't sure what to say. She also had some problems with her parents, but she'd never told anyone about it, not even Ninjark. Deciding the comfort of her friend was more important than her secret, she grasped his hand in her own.

"The people who took care of me on the Peaceables' island aren't really my parents," she said. "They just found me bundled up on their doorstep one morning. They didn't know where I came from, or who I was. The only things they found with me were a note with my name on it and a wooden horn."

Brandyn finally turned to look at her, though she couldn't tell if his eyes held surprise or pity. Maybe it was both.

Heather continued. "I never knew my real parents. I often wonder about them. I think, I _hope_ , that they're still alive, and that they want to meet me as much as I want to meet them. You're luckier than I am. Even though you lost them so soon, you still knew your parents. Me, I just have to keep guessing."

Speechless, the only thing Brandyn's mind could command him to do was squeeze her hand tightly. Finally, he managed to utter, "Thank you." Then, almost without realizing what he was doing, he leaned in towards her.

Sadly, the moment was ruined by the arrival of Ninjark. "Why didn't you tell us before?"

Heather averted her partner's eyes. "I wasn't sure how to say it. And they were really the only family I had."

Smiling behind his elongated tongue, Ninjark kneeled down and laid a hand on his trainer's shoulder.

"No. They weren't."

It didn't take a genius to understand the meaning of those words. Heather smiled at her partner in thanks.

Brandyn went right back to staring at the silent and unmoving Ra and Camazotz, thinking to himself, _I was not going to kiss her, I was not going to kiss her..._

* * *

Save for the numerous times Drageist flew into the room to make sure everyone was still in one piece, Hiccup could safely say they were making progress with the prehistoric Pokémon.

All of the prevolved prehistoric Pokémon, aside from Amaura, were not happy with their frosty surroundings. They preferred warm environments.

So Hiccup and Toothless went to work gathering buckets of water and heating them with plasma blasts. Normally, Rock-type Pokémon would do just about anything to avoid water, but the heat radiating off the clear fluid was so soothing, they all went to dip their feet into one of the buckets. Omanyte, Kabuto, Anorith, Lileep and Tirtouga showed no hesitation dipping into the water, seeing as how it was their natural habitat.

Amaura, meanwhile, went all the way to the other side of the room to avoid the heat.

As the prehistoric Pokémon's demands for warm water increased, Astrid and Stormfly decided to join in and help. Because a Deadly Nadder's fire was among the hottest in the dragon world, the water heated by Stormfly became a favorite for the living fossils.

But the heat was also attracting the attention of a hungry Aerodactyl. And he preferred to have his food all nice and warm.

Straining under the weight of a water-filled bucket, Hiccup wheezed out, "I'm beginning to think it would be easier to take these guys to a warmer area."

"You said you wanted to gain a little more muscle," Astrid said teasingly.

"That was before I shot down Toothless," Hiccup reminded her. He then set the bucket down. "Besides, aren't you the one who's always saying I'm perfect just the way I am?"

Astrid turned away from him to hide her blushing face.

Without any warning, Fossilwing burst out into the open, and made a beeline for the first person that caught his eye – Astrid. He opened his talons to grab his prey. Astrid didn't see the Aerodactyl until it was almost too late.

I say "almost," because Hiccup managed to spot his wife's attacker just in time to do something about it.

He sprinted forward, despite the risk of his prosthetic slipping on the ice, and pushed Astrid out of the way of Fossilwing's talons.

"LOOK OUT!"

The blonde looked up immediately, and was just in time to see the Aerodactyl clutch her husband in his talons and take off. A blast of fire from Toothless just barely grazed Fossilwing's wing before the Night Fury pounced on the Aerodactyl's back, biting and clawing desperately to save his friend. Fossilwing flew this way and that until he managed to shake off Toothless, who tumbled to the floor in a heap.

"Hiccup!" Astrid cried out as she jumped to her feet.

Fossilwing's roar echoed off the icy walls of the caves as he headed down the tunnels, looking for an exit. Hiccup didn't want to be a victim of whatever Fossilwing was planning to do with him, but he also didn't want the Aerodactyl to drop him on the hard, frosted floor. So, he ended up clutching the Fossil Pokémon's talons like they were a lifeline.

When he ended up circling back around, Fossilwing lashed his tail and smacked Toothless right in the muzzle. He had barely lifted his head up before the Aerodactyl disappeared into the tunnel once again.

The noise caught the attention of the rest of the team, who came running into the room.

"What's going on?" Snivels asked.

His answer was a loud screech from somewhere in the tunnels.

" _Aero!_ "

Drageist arrived in time to hear it, loud and clear. "Fossilwing..." the Giratina muttered.

All the other prehistoric Pokémon ran to hide, for they had no plans in becoming an Aerodactyl's dinner.

"Alright, everyone mount up!" Blaze called, well aware that Astrid would do anything to make sure Hiccup was safe.

There was no hesitation in regards to obeying the command. But poor Stormfly had tuckered herself out warming the water for the prehistoric Pokémon. She needed to rest until her shot limit was refilled. Astrid took note of this, and called out to her friends. "I'm gonna need another dragon!"

"Don't look at me," said Drageist. "I'd very much like to fly out of these caves with my dignity intact."

Snivels, who was mounting Toothless, pointed behind Astrid. "There's one right there."

Astrid turned to find herself standing face-to-face with Mortem. She glared at the baby Red Death. "Snivels, I am not flying on the back of the queen's dragonet!"

"Astrid, we're don't have time," Snivels nearly pleaded, "Just get on Mortem's back and we'll - "

"There is no way I'm going to - "

"GET ON MORTEM'S BACK!"

Astrid honest-to-Arceus _jumped in surprise_ when Snivels yelled at her. What was probably even more surprising was that she did exactly what the Servine told her to do after she recovered from the shock.

"Everyone follow me," Drageist said as each member settled onto their mounts. "We Legendaries know the fastest way out of these caves."

* * *

Fossilwing was quickly making his way up, but it was far less straightforward than anyone thought it would be. The Aerodactyl had flown through what felt like a hundred different tunnels before he finally found his way out into the open air. All the twists and turns the Fossil Pokémon had made was beginning to make Hiccup very dizzy.

"Don't they ever make tunnels in a straight line?" the Haddock boy asked, trying to keep his eyes in focus.

Fossilwing's screech in agreement was the only nice thing he got out of the Aerodactyl's mouth that day.

Another minute of flying passed, and the first faint traces of sunlight finally started to show themselves on the tunnel walls. They were almost out!

"I should warn you, I'm probably not as appetizing as you think," Hiccup tried to explain, but, sadly for him, it fell on deaf ears as they shot out of the claustrophobic tunnels and into the open sky.

Victoriously, Fossilwing opened his maw. " _Aerodactyl!_ "

The Fossil Pokémon's screech rang out over the entire glacier. The native Pokémon residents all stopped what they were doing immediately and turned their heads skyward, where a purple shape was rapidly leveling out and streaking back down towards a sea stack.

At that time, Drageist and Team Go-Getters made their way out of another exit not far from where Fossilwing had flown out. "Hiccup!" Astrid called, reasonably worried.

"I'm fine!" Hiccup called back. Then he muttered to himself, "I hope."

Fossilwing looked over his shoulder and roared in frustration as he realized he had company.

"Alright, guys, let's do it!" cried Astrid.

The dragons all flapped their wings powerfully, making a beeline toward the Aerodactyl. Fossilwing growled and flew away, not wanting to be on the receiving end of the mob that was heading his way.

From his position on Toothless's back, Snivels launched a Leaf Storm at Fossilwing. It looked like the move was going to hit when the Aerodactyl suddenly, and very swiftly, flew out of the way. Blaze's Flamethrower and Ninjark's Water Shuriken ended with the same result.

"He must be using Agility!" Brandyn hollered, gripping Buck's horns so tightly his knuckles turned white. "We need to slow him down!"

"How?" Heather shouted over the wind.

Brandyn's reply was calling out one of the Pokémon's attacks. "Sting, try a String Shot!"

The Beedrill buzzed obediently before raising his rear stinger and firing strings of silk from it. Some of the threads landed on Fossilwing, but the Aerodactyl easily shook them off and kept flying.

A glob of purple stuff sailed past the Aerodactyl's head, but he didn't even flinch. Blaze shouted to Adhesive, the one who had launched the glob, "Don't you know poison attacks don't work well on Rock-types?!"

"I didn't hear any of you coming up with better ideas!" the Poipole shot back.

Fossilwing then did a nosedive, and when he was close enough, pulled up just above the ocean, sending sprays of water every which way. Then he turned around to face his pursuers. Hiccup watched as Fossilwing's body glowed white and created a see-through afterimage of himself. The afterimage then started spinning quickly and formed a silver ball with a green core, which Fossilwing launched at Team Go-Getters.

The dragons quickly scattered to avoid the attack. Brandyn gazed at the orb in awe. "That's Ancient Power..."

Taking advantage of his distracted pursuers, Fossilwing then opened his maw and unleashed a powerful Roar attack. The force of the Roar was strong enough to blow back even Drageist.

"He's even more powerful than I thought!" the Giratina exclaimed.

When they dared closer, Fossilwing launched another Ancient Power. This one struck Mortem right in the noggin. The Red Death dragonet spun out of control, knocking every other dragon out of the air before everyone came crashing at the foot of the sea stack Fossilwing was heading for. Adhesive ended up stuck at the bottom of the pile, groaning at the amount of weight pinning him down. "Am I gonna feel that in the morning..."

Not a moment later, Fossilwing landed on the sea stack, still clutching Hiccup tightly in his talons. Noticing the hungry glint in the Aerodactyl's eye, Hiccup cried out to his friends, "Somebody get me down!"

Launching herself onto the foot of the sea stack as soon as the she recovered, Amber dug her claws into the icy rocks as she started climbing. She was making good progress before she slipped and fell right back down to where she started.

"Astrid!" Hiccup called to her as soon as he saw her below him.

The Hofferson-turned-Haddock pulled herself out of the pile, stood up and looked around, hoping to find a flyer who could carry her up and help save her husband. But every abled flyer was dazed and confused, and Drageist had mysteriously disappeared.

Hiccup was about to call to her again, when he noticed Amber trying to climb the sea stack again. "What are you doing?!"

Amber ignored him as she dug her claws deeper into the gaps between the rocks. But the rock she was holding on to broke off, and she tumbled right back down. Not one to give up, she looked up at Fossilwing and shouted, "You leave our friend alone!"

Fossilwing just pulled down his lower eyelid and called down to her tauntingly. " _Aerodactyl!_ "

The thought of Hiccup being eaten alone was nerve-wracking enough, but now Fossilwing was getting smart, too? What could be worse?

The answer to that question came in the form of Fossilwing licking his lips as he lowered his head to take a bite out of Hiccup.

Amber thought she felt her eyes get wet as she watched the Aerodactyl prepare himself for his meal. She'd said she could protect Hiccup if she absolutely had to, and she was failing.

"Somebody do something!" yelled Snivels, his voice full of fear and worry at the fate of his trainer and best friend.

Amber shut her tearful eyes, unwanting and unwilling to see what was going to happen next.

Then, for a few brief moments, everything was a blur.

* * *

Hiccup was preparing himself for the stabbing pain that came with Fossilwing's teeth sinking into his flesh when a light from below nearly blinded them. The one-legged hero strained to look over the edge of the sea stack, wondering what the heck was going on.

A glowing, reptilian shape was shifting and getting larger. The one horn on their head split into two, their flaming tail grew longer, and a pair of dragon-like wings erupted from their back.

When the light faded, Amber the Charmeleon was gone.

In her place was an amber-colored lizard Pokémon with huge wings and a flaming tail.

A Charizard.

The now fully-evolved Amber roared in determination as she shot a stream of fire from her mouth. Then, with one mighty flap of her new wings, she took to the air and flew straight towards Fossilwing.

Sensing that he was now in trouble, Fossilwing took off, heading for whatever way would get him the furthest from his new adversary.

Hiccup gripped the Aerodactyl's talons like a lifeline. Falling from such a height was still not on his list of things he wanted to do.

"Hiccup!"

Startled momentarily, the one-legged trainer stared at the Charizard that was flying after them. Amber called out to him again, "I wasn't lying when I said I could protect you!"

Smiling at the realization that Amber had indeed evolved to rescue him, Hiccup muttered to himself, "I know."

"Go get him, Amber!" Snivels shouted from below. "You can do it!"

The Charizard glanced down at her mate before glaring at Fossilwing and sucking in a long breath.

 _Hold onto your leg, Hiccup, 'cause things are about to really heat up!_

A Flamethrower that was far more powerful than the ones she produced as a Charmander or a Charmeleon erupted from Amber's mouth. Fossilwing hastened to dodge the attack, the heat actually blistering his wings despite the type advantage he had over the Charizard. Hiccup felt the top of his head to make sure his hair hadn't caught fire.

White pine trees passed by in a blur when Fossilwing dove into the nearby woods, but it did nothing to slow Amber down. The Charizard, despite having never flown by herself before, matched his every move, a better flier than Fossilwing suspected.

When Amber felt she'd gotten close enough, she gave one of her recently learned, new moves a try. White streaks surrounded her body, and before Fossilwing could even blink, she struck him right in the back with great speed. Despite the hard impact from Amber's Aerial Ace, Fossilwing kept flying on strongly.

"Any day now," Hiccup muttered to himself as he fought back the urge to toss his cookies.

Okay, so Amber needed a new strategy. She didn't think she'd have to use one of her personal favorite moves, but the time seemed to call for it. After letting out a roar to get Fossilwing's attention, Amber winked at him, and several pink hearts appeared and floated toward the Aerodactyl. Before Fossilwing could figure out what was going on, the hearts hit him, and, just like that, he was infatuated.

"Gotcha," chuckled Amber.

Fossilwing actually giggled as he gushed, " _You're so cute_."

Amber gave him a smug and sinister grin. "Sorry, buddy boy, but my heart belongs to another."

* * *

It felt like an eternity before Astrid finally got a sign that her husband was going to be all right. The sight of an infatuated Fossilwing flying toward them, Hiccup still in his talons, with Amber in pursuit filled her with an appropriate amount of joy and relief.

When Fossilwing got close enough to their destination, Amber proceeded to show off the second move she'd learned upon evolving. Her hands became surrounded in a light green, claw shaped energy, which she used to strike the Aerodactyl's back.

Fossilwing cried out in pain at the force of the Dragon Claw, his talons finally releasing his grip on his former prey. Hiccup screamed as he plummeted, but Amber easily caught him on her back.

Adhesive had just managed to squirm his way out of the dragon pile when he was greeted with the sight of an injured Fossilwing plummeting down towards him. He had just enough time to shout, "Oh, come on!" before he was buried underneath the Fossil Pokémon.

Not too far away, Amber landed softly and allowed Hiccup to climb off her back. He'd just gotten his feet on the ground when Astrid came barreling into him and crushing him in one death grip of a hug.

Snivels looked up at his fully evolved mate. "You're not really replacing me with an Aerodactyl, are you?" he asked with a small pout.

Amber was about to answer when Fossilwing groaned and started picking himself up off the ground. "Not now, Snivsie."

Fossilwing turned to face his rival, only for Drageist to suddenly appear out of nowhere as a shadowy figure and slam into the Aerodactyl's back. Overwhelmed by the blow of the Shadow Force, Fossilwing slumped to the ground, defeated.

"Sorry I disappeared so suddenly," the Giratina apologized. "I had to wait for the right moment to strike to avoid causing harm to anyone else by accident."

Fossilwing shakingly picked himself off the ground to find himself with a noseful of the smell of a pastry. He looked down to find Brandyn offering him a friendly smile, along with one of the cupcake-like treats his Pokémon loved so much.

"Try this," the Aetherson boy suggested.

Unable to escape the emptiness of his stomach, Fossilwing opened his maw and took in the pastry with one bite. An explosion of deliciousness filled his mouth, and he eagerly swallowed the treat and opened his maw for another.

"No more," Brandyn said, shrugging.

The Aerodactyl let out a sad caw.

"But there's more in there," Brandyn said, pointing to the Ice Caves. "I'll get you some."

Fossilwing's frown immediately did a 180.

"But," Brandyn added sternly, "You have to promise you won't try to eat any more living creatures from now on. Especially not any of my friends. Deal?"

Fossilwing thought it over for a minute before nodding. " _Deal._ "

* * *

Things back at the Ice Caves quickly settled down after the sudden adventure was over.

True to his word, Fossilwing never again attempted to eat any creature that was still alive, instead taking up a diet that consisted entirely of Brandyn's cooking. Maybe it was his imagination, but the homemade food pellets and bowls of natural-grown fruit, topped with his favorite dessert, tasted much better than any bite of meat the Aerodactyl had ever taken from his victims.

The Aerodactyl's love of the food Brandyn made for him is part of why Drageist allowed him to stay with Team Go-Getters. After all, Fossilwing was so much happier now than he'd ever been in the sanctuary.

Brandyn ignored the still, levitating forms of his two Cosmoem, smiling at Fossilwing as he licked his chops and sucked any remaining bits of food off of his claws and wings. "If you be good, you might get some more Poké Puffs tonight after dinner."

His response was a quick, obedient nod from Fossilwing before the Aerodactyl curled up to take his nap.

"Poké Puffs?"

Brandyn glanced back to find Heather standing behind him, a confused smile on her face. "Yeah, I finally got around to naming them," he said. "And I have you to thank for that." He continued as she sat down next to him, "I really appreciate what you did for me earlier. I owe you."

Heather blushed as she brushed a few strands of hair out of her eyes nervously. "It...wasn't really that big of a deal, I mean...I'm sure you would have done the same if it was me in that position."

Brandyn couldn't stop himself from saying, "Yes, I would." The rest came tumbling out his mouth like an avalanche on a mountaintop. "Heather, you're one of, if not my absolute, best friends. We may not have really known each other for very long, but I feel like I can really open up to you. I've really enjoyed being your friend. I like you, a lot. But I don't want us to be together as a couple because we are as Sirens in the Monsters of Berk universe. I want us to be together as a couple because we really want to. And if you're not ready for it, then I'll wait as long as it takes."

If Heather wasn't blushing before, she certainly was now. Of course she wanted to be with Brandyn! She'd assumed he didn't want to be with her, but he just up and told her that he did.

"Bran, I...I want to be with you, too," she stuttered out. "But, can we just keep it between us for now? Adhesive has already been going nuts about..."

"The Hiccstrid," Brandyn finished. "I know. Whatever works for you, my Siren."

If that was going to become a frequent pet name, Heather didn't mind it at all. In fact, it kinda suited her.

All other thoughts she might have had in that moment went flying out the window when she felt Brandyn lean in and kiss her tenderly.

Oh, great Arceus above.

Brandyn was kissing her!

Brandyn was kissing her _**on the lips!**_

Screaming internally, Heather reached behind his head and cupped his neck as she kissed him back.

Neither of them noticed Fossilwing peeking at them with one of his eyes half-open. Nor did they hear the draconic chuckles courtesy of an amused Windshear and Buck. For now, it was just them, and them alone.

Just the way they would grow to like it.

* * *

Amber found Snivels sitting near the entrance of the Ice Caves, with Bigwings curled up around him and napping. The Servine had dismissed all the dragonets from that day's lesson, which consisted of the exercise they'd been doing earlier and team-building games to help the baby Screaming Death feel more welcome around others.

The booming steps of the Charizard stopped as she sat down next to her mate. "If you're still waiting for an answer, I was definitely not trying to replace you with an Aerodactyl."

"I didn't really think you would," Snivels said as he stroked the sleeping Bigwings's head. "According to some of my closest friends, I'm apparently quite special."

"You are," Amber said, smiling. "And not one single thing in this universe, or any other for that matter, can ever change that."

Snivels lifted Bigwings's head off his lap before scooching closer to his mate. The Charizard wrapped her wing over his shoulders, pulling him in closer. The Servine responded by laying his head on her shoulder.

"You know," he said. "Now that you're fully evolved, you can be the Pokémon Queen." He continued as she gazed down at him in surprise. "Any member of the royal family can become the king or queen of Pokémon when they reach the final stage of their evolution, as long as they have all the right qualities for a ruler. You joined the royal family when you became my mate, Amber. If you want, the throne is yours."

Amber thought this over in her head for a good long while. Before she became a princess, Snivels was the one and only true heir to the throne. And he was willing to set his childhood dream aside so that she could lead the Pokémon as a queen. As selfless as his act was, Amber wanted him to keep that dream intact. For if she was going to be a leader, she wanted him to be there with her.

"If I'm going to become the queen," she said. "Then you're going to take the throne with me. As king." She smiled down at him. "You don't have to rush into your final evolution, though. I'm in no hurry to become queen."

Snivels smiled back at her. "Thank you, Amber. Though it might take me some time to get used to having a Charizard as my mate. You have a double type advantage over me, after all."

"Guess this means I'm winning every argument from now on," Amber joked.

They both had a good laugh at that.

* * *

Poring over the notes Snivels had taken on Bigwings was how Hiccup spent most of the afternoon, when most of his friends were busy gathering themselves together after Fossilwing's rampage. He was so focused on the writing in front of him, he wasn't even aware of how much time had passed until he heard footsteps coming down the hall to his room.

A shock of straw-colored hair and bright blue eyes appeared in the doorway. It was Astrid, of course.

"Oh, there you are," she said, her voice full of relief. Hiccup looked up at her from his reading. He could tell she was probably worried something had kidnapped him again, since he hadn't announced where he was going to be.

Casually, the Hofferson-turned-Haddock pulled up a chair and sat down next to him. "I swear, if that Aerodactyl comes within even ten feet from you, he's getting a face full of my axe."

The mental image that her statement provided made Hiccup shudder. But he turned back to the open notes on his worktable, a noticeable frown stretching his mouth downwards.

"I'm more worried about our new acquaintance," he replied seriously.

"Why?" Astrid asked. "Snivels has a handle on Bigwings, doesn't he?"

"Maybe for now," Hiccup shook his head. "But who knows what we'll have to deal with when he gets bigger."

Astrid nodded, agreeing with what he said. It made sense.

Silence pervaded the room after the words had left his mouth. The two of them quietly descended into their own thoughts, at least until Hiccup noticed Astrid. She had her eyes on her lap and her hands clasped together – it was almost like she was internally wrestling with some kind of decision.

"Astrid?" he asked, leaning forward in concern.

In that moment, he did something that he rarely ever had the courage to do. He reached out and took Astrid's hand.

She glanced up at him apprehensively. "Hiccup, there's something I need to tell you," she answered. "Back when we were flying out to rescue you, Stormfly was too tired from warming all that water. I had to use another dragon. Mortem was the only available dragon that was large enough for me to ride, so Snivels suggested I take him. I didn't want to, but I knew I had to. So I did. I flew on the Red Death's dragonet."

Hiccup blinked. This wasn't the news he had been expecting. "Are you serious?"

"I wouldn't make this up, and you know it," she told him emphatically. "I've been blaming Mortem for something that wasn't his fault, I realized that today. Hiccup, I might not be able to let go of what almost happened to you, but I should know better than to hold a vendetta towards a dragonet who hadn't even been born at that time. I'm really sorry."

It boggled Hiccup's mind, it truly did. "Astrid, I don't blame you for holding a vendetta against Mortem," he said.

"You don't?" she asked. She'd expected him to be disappointed, at the very least, or leave the room, at the very most.

Nodding, he went on, "You're not the only one who was scared of Mortem when we found him on the island. I was terrified out of my mind. I thought, for a minute, that we'd have to face him like we did with his mother. I knew as well as anyone else that I could have been killed in that battle, but if no one else was going to do something about the war, then I had to. Maybe we're lucky Mortem hadn't hatched before the battle, but we can't worry about that now. He needs someone to take care of him, and that's what we're all going to do, as a team."

When he was finished, Astrid's hand was gripping his significantly more tightly.

"So, what should we do now?" he asked.

Smiling, Astrid pulled him in for a kiss. "We'll follow your lead," she said after she pulled away. "Bigwings."

The gears in Hiccup's head turned as he registered the meaning of that last word. He was the leader of Team Go-Getters, so, by dragon logic, he was essentially their bigwings.

Hiccup had a feeling that term wasn't going to get old anytime soon.

Not that he minded.

Not. One. Bit.

* * *

 _Whether it's the frying pan or the fire, we as a team must always stick together if we want to get through the hard times._

 _And when the hard times get even harder, you need to stand strong not only for others, but for yourself as well._

* * *

 **Merry Christmas and Happy Snoggletog to everyone in the Multiverse!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Son of Arceus

 **Based off an idea I got most very recently. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _There's hardly anything in this world that is how it appears to be. Even the weakest and most plain creatures can surprise you._

 _And Team Go-Getters is full of surprises..._

* * *

It was the night before Team Go-Getters was scheduled to head back to Berk. Everyone was sleeping rather soundly, except for Snivels, who was sitting by a few lit candles with his long nose stuck in a book.

Buddy the Type: Null, however, was tossing and turning in his sleep. Not that he was having a nightmare, but it was a rather peculiar dream. He could hear someone speaking to him from somewhere in a foggy area.

He wanted to call out, but his helmet prevented him from speaking. He'd been unable to say a word since the helmet confined his uncontrollable powers. The powers he'd gotten from the Type Plates and Arceus when he was created.

Buddy's eyes darted this way and that, searching through the fog to find the source of the voice that was calling him.

Finally, a figure emerged from the fog, a white creature with a golden cross-like wheel and streaks of gray.

Buddy had seen this creature before. This was Arceus, the creator of the Multiverse and all things alive.

Archon tilted his head up a little, speaking slowly and solemnly.

"Son."

Unable to respond verbally, Buddy sank to his knees and bowed.

"I sense conflict within you," Archon said. "And fear. You worry you may never live up to your full potential. Remember, I created you for a reason. My power, and the powers of the Type Plates flow within you. You were still young, inexperienced."

Buddy rose to his feet, his eyes downcast in shame.

"It took me a long time to learn how to control my own powers," Archon said comfortingly. "Not every Legendary and Mythical Pokémon starts out great and powerful. They need to learn, to adapt. Now, it's your turn."

Buddy still averted his eyes. There were many things he wanted, and one of them was to never let his father down.

Archon stepped forward and lifted Buddy's head with one of his golden hooves so he could look his son in the eye. If Arceus had mouths, Archon would have smiled. He knew what Buddy was thinking, he could see it in his eyes. "You have never let me down, son. No matter what happens, I will never regret creating you. Don't ever forget that."

Buddy didn't have time to give any form of response before the dream faded away and he woke up, panting heavily through his helmet.

* * *

Snivels barely took the time to blink as his eyes scanned the writing upon the pages of his book.

Well, it wasn't technically his book. It had been lent to him by Adhesive.

He was still sitting quietly, nearing the end of his book, when Blaze walked by, only to stop and stare at what her friend was doing. She took one look at his hunched-over manner and bloodshot eyes and asked, "Have you been up all night?"

"Is it morning?" Snivels asked without taking his eyes off the book.

"Yes," Blaze answered simply and bluntly.

"Then I've been up all night," Snivels concluded, his voice heavy with realization. That didn't stop him from turning the page and continuing to read the book he was holding. He remained there even when the room filled up with all the other team members, their confused and concerned stares going unnoticed by the Pokémon bookworm.

Adhesive flew over to the sleep-deprived Servine, duffel bag slung over his shoulder. "I take it you followed my reading recommendation."

"Why else would I be sitting here, reading this book?" Snivels asked, turning the page again.

That earned him a look of surprise from Hiccup. "You stayed up all night reading that one book?"

Snivels finally looked up from the book he was reading. "No." He gestured behind himself to a stack of eleven more books. "I stayed up all night reading the whole series." He closed the book and placed it on top of the stack. "Whoever Cressida Cowell is, she has talent, but, personally, I'm not a fan of this book series."

"Join the club, Snivster," Adhesive said empathetically. "The film franchise is way better. Except the second movie, I don't like how that one ended."

Snivels shut his tired eyes. "I don't have a clue what you're talking about, but I'll believe it." Then he slumped over. "If anyone needs me, I'll be..." He didn't get the chance to finish before he fell over onto his stomach, fast asleep and snoring lightly.

Amber caught sight of her sleeping mate. "Guess I'm carrying him," she said, unsure of whether she should be frustrated or delighted about that fact.

* * *

The flight back to Berk would probably have been more fun if Hiccup wasn't dreading what would be awaiting him. If only there was some way to permanently escape Snotlout's oafishness, the twins' stupidity, and his father's expectations for his son to be something he had no wish of becoming.

Also, a certain Servine napping on the back of an amber-colored Charizard was mumbling a bunch of things in his sleep.

"Poor Toothless, he's so tiny..."

The Night Fury glanced at Snivels at the sound of his name, but frowned when he heard the word "tiny."

"Why am I not surprised Snivels talks in his sleep?" a slightly amused Astrid asked no one in particular.

"It only happens when he's in deep sleep," Amber replied, looking over her shoulder at he slumbering mate. "And I mean deep. I'd be surprised if he woke up before next Thursday."

Shifting a little, the napping Snivels mumbled out, "Green and purple...where's the red?"

The situation remained that way for the rest of the flight. Snivels would inexplicably say odd things like, "There are no Vorpents," or things that sounded downright crazy, such as, "Stormfly doesn't change colors."

They were lucky to not get a welcoming committee when they finally reached Berk. Splice had clearly done his job right, no one had seemed to notice the team had been absent the whole time they'd been at the Ice Caves.

But no one was expecting a pair of odd dragons lying down next to their house in Raven Point.

Hiccup and Toothless landed first, approaching the pair with looks of recognition. "We know these guys," said the rider as all his friends touched down behind him and the Night Fury. "They helped us when Berk was covered in lightning storms."

Adhesive flew around the pair of dragons, eyes wide in amazement. "Really? The Chimeragons? That's so cool!"

Believe it or not, this was the first time anyone on Team Go-Getters had heard the dragons' name.

"Chimeragons?" Astrid repeated, her tone of voice a mix of confusion and a hint of boredom.

"We needed a name that sounded cool and was easy to pronounce," Adhesive explained. "You should hear a four year old try to say 'Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus'."

Mildly amused, Kickin' Hawk muttered under his breath, "You should hear yourself try to say it."

Bahamut and Tiamat gave draconic chuckles before spreading their wings and flying off into the mountains, where their cave was.

Amber shifted so Snivels was resting in her arms instead of on her back. "We should get him into bed," she said to no one in particular. Then, to Adhesive, "You can explain more inside."

* * *

The four trainers sat around the table, Blaze and Ninjark standing behind their respective trainers while the Cosmoem duo stayed within Brandyn's pocket, unmoving. Of course, Snivels was still asleep upstairs. Even the roar of an angry Thunderdrum couldn't wake him up.

Adhesive laid his iPad upon the wooden surface, the screen displaying the image of a Chimeragon along with a select few other dragons that had characteristics of more than one species.

"Project Hybrid is something the Ultra Guardians have been working on for a while," the Poipole explained. "Basically taking two or more different species of dragons and combining their abilities and attributes into a single form."

Ninjark raised a hand to signal he had a question. "Okay, so, how did you get two different kinds of dragons to..." He made an awkward hand motion as he tried to find the most appropriate way to finish the sentence. "You know..."

Adhesive shook his head. "It certainly wasn't easy. Wild hybrids are possible, but with so many individuals of each species, the chance of two different kinds of dragons actually coming together with each other is relatively remote." He tapped the screen of his iPad to enhance one of the images. The dragon shown had qualities that unquestionably resembled those of the Deadly Nadder, but it had four wings instead of just two. "Our first successful hybrid was bred in captivity only a few years ago. We called it the Deathly Galeslash, half Deadly Nadder and half Stormcutter. The individual shown here was named Stormjumper. Came up with that myself."

Hiccup looked rather concerned. "So, you guys just went and made new dragons?"

"Kuro's orders," Adhesive said bluntly. "Nobody ever argues with him. He's been in cohorts with Fjord and Archon since before the Viking-Dragon War began."

"What did you guys use to make the Chimeragon?" Blaze asked. Whether it was out of curiosity or suspicion, nobody could tell.

"One of the dragons we used was a Night Fury," was Adhesive's answer. "The rest is classified."

Elsewhere in the forest, Buddy was putting his self-given training session into action. From where he stood, he had a lot of work to do if he was going to reach his full potential. Perhaps if he tried sharpening up his skills, he'd be able to utilize new strengths while in battle.

The Type: Null was actually standing directly in front of the trees Astrid used when practicing her axe throwing. The gashes she left were rather deep, but the tall plants remained standing, hopefully for a long time to come.

Sparks of fire flickered around Buddy's claws seconds before he unleashed his Flame Charge, wisely steering away from the trees and colliding headfirst with a medium-sized rock. When he bounced off, the flames dispersed, but he charged right back, his helmet shining like silver as he struck the rock with Iron Head. This time, the rock cracked and crumbled under the pressure. A quick strike from Crush Claw had it reduced to countless tiny pebbles.

Turning back toward the trees, Buddy charged up the aura of an Air Slash, from which several of the crescent-shaped auras were launched. Each aura hit a tree, none of them striking the same area as another.

Finally, Buddy stopped, turning his head to look over himself, only to sit down in disappointment when he realized that nothing about him had changed. The helmet remained on his head, sturdy and ever so restraining.

 _What is it gonna take to finally gain control of my powers?_

* * *

Most of the dragons and Pokémon had to be moved outside due to the number of team members being larger than it was when they left Berk. Hiccup could hardly keep track of them all. It seemed there were enough creatures for them to make their own little village. But for that, they'd need a bigger island.

That aside, there was something that Hiccup had been keeping in the back of his mind that he needed to address. Like an itch he couldn't scratch.

He found Astrid practicing with Stormfly, the darts the Nadder launched from her tail piercing the soil beneath them as they flew past. Just like her rider with her trusty axe, Stormfly's aim was true.

Their training stopped when the spines came dangerously close to impaling Hiccup. Stormfly landed behind him, crooning apologetically as Astrid dismounted her. "Don't tell me Snotlout and the twins are causing trouble already."

Chuckling at his wife's little joke, Hiccup replied, "Actually I wanted to talk to you."

Sensing that the couple wanted to be alone, Toothless padded over to Stormfly, wagging his tail playfully. Stormfly squawked in reply, and the two dragons romped off into the forest to begin a game of chase.

Hiccup stared after the retreating dragons for a moment before turning back to look at Astrid. "I think it's safe to say neither of us want to know what'll happen if everyone in the village finds out about..." He trailed off, shifting awkwardly. "You know, you and me..."

Astrid knew full well what he meant, but it was frustrating that he was still too shy to just say it outright. Nonetheless, she answered, "We can take off the rings. Leave them here, at the house, whenever we need to go to the academy, or the village. They'll be waiting right here when we come back."

"But we can't hide it forever," Hiccup reminded her. "I mean, unless we actually packed up and moved to another island, far away from here, with limited contact with Vikings. You and I both know what's expected from married couples on Berk, and I don't want to put too much pressure on you."

Of course it was about her. Why wouldn't it be?

"I can handle pressure," Astrid said, her voice carrying a full load of confidence. Then, to emphasize her point, she slugged him in the shoulder. "Just don't worry about me so much."

Hiccup wasn't one to make promises he couldn't keep. It just wasn't the Go-Getter way. "I always worry about you. I mean, we've been through a lot together, and..."

Astrid easily cut him off with a kiss. It was meant to be a simple peck, but the familiarity and affection made her linger a lot longer than she intended to. That turned out to be a good thing, because when Hiccup gathered enough of himself to kiss her back, it actually made her heart flutter.

When they parted, Hiccup finished his sentence. "You haven't changed one bit."

Not that he wanted her to, because he loved her just the way she was.

And she knew it.

* * *

Brandyn had the fortune to come across the perfect spot to sit down and watch the sunset over Berk. It was his first time being outside the Ice Caves at this particular time of day ever since the boating accident where he lost his parents.

This was going to be great. He even swore he could feel Ra and Camazotz shifting ever so slightly from within his pocket as the sun disappeared over the horizon.

The sound of footsteps made Brandyn turn around. He couldn't help but smile as Heather silently sat down next to him to watch the sunset as well. Still without speaking, the raven-haired girl slid her arm around his shoulders. In response, Brandyn slid his arm around her waist, holding her close.

They sat in silence like that for a long while, regarding the sun as it descended lower into the horizon. "I forgot just how beautiful the world really is," Brandyn finally murmured.

"It's been a while since I've watched the sunset, too," Heather admitted. "I heard the view on this island is quite charming."

Brandyn breathed a laugh. "It is. But not as..." He trailed off, slightly embarrassed with what he'd been about to say.

Heather looked up at him. "Not as what?" she asked.

After a quick look around to make sure they were alone, Brandyn finished, "Not as much as you are."

Ignoring the rising heat in her cheeks, Heather leaned in and kissed him briefly, then leaned her head on his shoulder as she continued to watch the sunset. Brandyn's heart did a few flips when he felt her lips brush against his, then it sank when she pulled away without giving him a chance to reciprocate.

He loved her, he knew he did. He just didn't want to go blurting it out at any random time. There was such a thing as being too lovey-dovey, after all.

But was now the right time to say it?

Brandyn's eyes shifted from Heather, to the sunset, and then back to Heather. Moments like this didn't happen very often. He opened his mouth to speak, then changed his mind at the last second and went back to watching the sun disappear over the horizon.

 _I'll tell her later._

* * *

For the rest of the day, Snivels remained asleep.

He was still sleeping when the whole team turned in for the night. Well, maybe he had woken up had one point, and then went back to sleep when he noticed it was dark out, but who could tell?

Buddy was still out in the forest doing Arceus knows what, but no one noticed. What, with so many different Pokémon to keep track off it would be difficult to notice if one had gone missing.

Hiccup noticed after waking up from a rather spine-tingling dream.

He'd been in a dark room, with no source of light, yet he could still see the hand he was holding in front of his face.

And there was something speaking to him.

" **At lASt, I'vE finAlLY foUNd YoU.** "

Hiccup looked every which way, hoping to find the source of the many voices. Nothing but black.

" **SuCH poWErFuL emOtIOns aLl bOTtLed Up inSidE. ThEY'rE deLiciOUS. LeT Me fEEd, aND I'lL giVe YoU wHatEVeR yOU deSIrE.** "

Hiccup tried to speak, but his voice failed him. _No! Please, just leave me alone!_

" **WhaT a cOInciDEnce,** " said the voices. " **AlL thE oTHers I SpoKe tO reActED jUst tHe saMe aS yOu arE.** " A glowing, spherical core suddenly emerged from the darkness, levitating in front of Hiccup. " **SoOnEr oR LaTEr, I wilL reGain My sTreNGth. TheN I wIll bE unStoPPablE.** "

Hiccup's eyes snapped open as he sat up in bed, panting quietly but heavily. He looked to his side to find Astrid lying down next to him, fast asleep. The sight of her calmed him down a bit.

No one knows how he managed to notice in that moment that a certain Type: Null was nowhere to be seen, but the moment he realized that Buddy was not in the room, Hiccup threw off the blanket and went to wake up the nearest creature he could find. And that happened to be Snivels.

The Servine was lying in one of the beds he'd made for the dragonets, which he sometimes slept in when they had nightmares. He was still mumbling in his sleep, but Hiccup didn't have time to figure out the meaning behind the phrases. Something bad was going to happen, he just knew it.

"Snivs? Come on, pal, wake up!"

Even despite the rather vigorous way he was being shaken by his trainer, Snivels remained asleep. He did stir a little, but that was it.

Hiccup tried again. "Snivels!"

The response he got was not what he was hoping for.

"Thank Arceus there are no Bog Burglars..."

Seeing no other option, Hiccup finally shouted, "WAKE UP!"

Snivels did just that, along with a sudden explosion of verbal shock.

"I'm surrounded by too many plot differences, GET THEM AWAY FROM ME!"

The Servine sat up in bed, his yells startling everyone else awake. A knife came flying out of nowhere, imbedding into the wall inches away from Snivels's head. Astrid, the one who had thrown it, let out a groan of frustration as the truth of the situation quickly dawned on her. "Do you have any idea what time it is?!"

"Hopefully not time to get my vocal cords cut by a former Hofferson," Snivels muttered.

Blaze spoke next. "Guys, it's the middle of the night, what's going on?"

Taking note of the fact that their voices were reasonably tired, Hiccup cautiously asked, "Has anyone seen Buddy since this morning?"

"Technically, it _is_ morning," Adhesive said, holding up his phone, which read 12:38 a.m.

Hiccup shook his head. "You know what I mean."

Now more awake, Astrid dragged herself out of the bed and over to her husband. "Hiccup, he saved you from the Outcasts, I think he can handle himself."

"If he can actually take on the Outcasts, then he can definitely handle himself," Brandyn grumbled from the other bed, which he was sharing with Heather.

As if on cue, Buddy suddenly appeared, clawing his way through the window before plopping down into the ragged blankets that had been gathered at the last minute to make a bed for him.

Astrid tiredly lifted an arm to point at the Type: Null. "See? He's fine."

Physically, maybe. But Buddy was still struggling internally. Hiccup and Snivels could see it in his eyes.

That's why the two friends decided to spend the night sleeping next to the Type: Null. Toothless gazed at them in confusion before picking himself up and trudging over. The Night Fury lay down beside the three friends, draping his wing over all of them like a blanket.

Even with the extra comfort, Buddy ended up staying awake the whole night long.

* * *

Things got more confusing the next morning at the academy.

The ferocity Buddy was displaying as he swiped his claws at the practice targets and pounced on just about anything that moved was an entirely new level than what he'd been playing before.

"I've had to train quite vigorously," said Blaze, "But it wasn't anything like whatever he's doing."

Hiccup didn't have to ask to know that she was right. Buddy hadn't even been that tough during his attempt to save the young trainer from the clutches of Alvin and the Outcasts. He turned to Snivels, who was dozing off a little, and asked, "Can you talk to him?"

Snivels shook his head a little in an attempt to clear away his drowsiness. "I can try." He stood up and walked over to Buddy. " _Servine, vine. Ser, Servine._ "

Buddy stopped when he heard Snivels talking to him in "Pokéspeak." The unintelligible grunts that was his own language provided Snivels with more questions than answers, so he decided to ask again.

The two Pokémon jabbered back and forth, their conversation a complete mystery to the four trainers. Sure, there were some key phrases and patterns they could figure out the meaning of, but understanding a multitude of full sentences was something else entirely.

" _I need to harness my power,_ " Buddy was saying. " _It's the only way I can get stronger._ "

Snivels tilted his head a little. " _What power?_ " he asked.

" _The power I inherited from my mother and father,_ " Buddy replied. " _I have all of their powers. Except for their Judgment. That is exclusive to their species. I am not their species._ "

" _I never really thought judgment could be considered a power,_ " Snivels said, mostly to himself. " _But I guess it does take a lot of skill and courage to make the right call._ "

Buddy shook his head. " _That is not the kind of judgment I am speaking about. I mean Judgment, as in the shots of light that rain down from the sky. That's something only my parents can do._ "

Snivels knew about Judgment. It was spoken of many times over in the legends of Arceus, the creator of all things that existed. It took a moment for it to click. " _Your parents? You mean Archon and Archia, right? I remember Folnir told us that they created you from the Type Plates._ "

" _They did create me,_ " said Buddy. " _Therefore, Archon is my father and Archia is my mother. Ever since I lost control of myself, I have been working so hard to make my parents proud. Father's always saying that I'm no disappointment to him, that I still have time to learn, but I cannot wait any longer. I fear if I stay restrained any longer, I may never reach my full potential. There has to be something I've missed!_ "

Seeing the Type: Null was starting to get riled up with anxiety, Snivels rushed forward and grabbed onto Buddy's neck. " _We can help you,_ " he said. " _Go-Getters look out for one another. Whatever it is you need to do, we'll be there every step of the way._ "

Buddy pulled away, shaking his head. " _No. This is something I must do alone. Every Legendary and Mythical Pokémon before me has had to take this journey, and now it is my turn. Do not tell anyone what I have confessed, I shall do it myself when I regain my voice. Let's just hope it happens soon._ "

Before Snivels could reply, Buddy turned and ran through the gate and out of the academy, heading towards the forest.

Hiccup didn't wait for Snivels to explain before he mounted Toothless and followed the Type: Null outside.

This wasn't the first time Hiccup had shown great concern for a Pokémon that he considered a friend. There was the time Verne didn't come back from the breeding migration, when Tito had started thinking about evolving, and who could forget the days Snivels got jealous because his trainer was spending more time with his fiancée instead of his best friends?

Buddy could hear the wingbeats behind him, but he knew that if he looked back, he wouldn't have the heart to run away from his master. So, he kept on running.

 _This is my quest. I need to complete it._

 _No matter the cost._

* * *

 **So much better than the Fireworm Island episode.**

 **Maybe I'm being a little bit judgmental, but I guess that's what happens when you start reading the How to Train Your Dragon books after you see the first movie. I never finished reading the books, but I think it's safe to say that in my opinion, the film franchise is way better.**

 **Happy birthday to me!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Silvally

 **Yeah, I know. Real original chapter title.**

* * *

It had taken Buddy practically the entire rest of the day to finally escape from Hiccup and Toothless. How he did it, he'd never tell them, even if he ever did regain his voice.

He'd run all the way to the cove, where he found Mortem waiting patiently for someone (probably Hiccup or Snivels) to stop by and tell him he was in the clear. Whenever Buddy heard the distinctive wingbeats of an approaching Night Fury, he'd hide underneath Mortem's massive dragonet bulk until Hiccup and Toothless gave up and left.

Curious as to what was going on, Mortem asked innocently, " _Are you playing hide-and-seek?_ "

Buddy shook his head. " _No, I am not._ "

" _Then why are you hiding?_ " Mortem asked, his eyes reflecting his confusion.

Buddy pondered how to answer before going for the blunt approach. " _Because I need to do something on my own, and my master is very persistent._ "

To a dragonet, that was rather hard to understand all by itself. " _So, do you wanna play hide-and-seek? I can be it first._ "

Buddy got out from underneath the large dragonet. " _No, thank you, Mortem. I don't want to play. I just need to lay low for a while._ "

" _How come?_ " Mortem couldn't help but ask.

Realizing that this conversation was going to take a while, Buddy sat down next to the Red Death dragonet. " _My father is Archon the Arceus, and I don't want to let him down. Being the creator of the Multiverse, he sets the bar high for all other beings. I want to give my father a reason to be proud of me, other than my existence. I know he loves me, he's told me several times before. It's just, one of those things about being a son is trying to give your father, or mother, a reason to be proud. I feel it's an obligation I need to fulfill by myself, without too much assistance._ " He turned his head to look at Mortem. " _I really don't mean to lay all this on you, it just helps to talk to someone who can actually understand me. All Master ever hears from me is grunts and growls. Right now, I'd give just about anything to get my voice back, even if it's just for one little minute._ "

Mortem just blinked all six of his eyes and gave Buddy a friendly, draconic smile (or at least, as friendly as his species could manage). " _Maybe we could try to help each other?_ "

" _What do you need help with?_ " Buddy asked.

Mortem lowered himself to the ground, resting his head on his front paws. " _I can't find my mama,_ " he said.

Buddy's turned to look at his new friend. " _Your mama?_ " He was no stranger to the final fight on Dragon Island that had ended with the fiery demise of the queen of the nest. It was just one of the many things that was often brought up at the Resistance.

" _I know I'm supposed to have one_ ," Mortem said. " _I saw lots of other dragons with their mamas. Where's mine?_ "

Buddy sighed. He knew he had to tell Mortem the truth. He just hoped the dragonet would understand. " _I'm sorry, Mortem. Your mother is dead._ "

Mortem perked his head up and looked at Buddy, confusion in his eyes. " _What does dead mean?_ "

Oh, how was Buddy going to explain that? He had a feeling that if he said something like, "Your mother's been blown to bits," or "She's nothing but bones now," Mortem would be unable to comprehend. So, he settled with, " _It means she's sleeping and she's never gonna wake up._ "

" _When is she gonna stop being dead?_ " asked the clueless Mortem. " _I'm getting really hungry, and I want her to bring me food like all the other mamas do._ "

Buddy let out a heavy sigh, he turned to face Mortem with his eyes the gentlest he could manage through the helmet. " _Listen carefully, Mortem. Your mother is never coming back. But it's better this way. See, your mother was a very mean dragon. She didn't treat any of her subjects with respect. She'd force them to bring food to her, and if any of them didn't bring enough, she'd eat them alive. The queen of a dragon nest is usually demanding, but not in the way your mother was. She was hardly even a dragon at all. She had to be killed._ "

Mortem just lowered his head to the cove floor, his eyes a little overcast. " _What about my papa?_ "

" _Only females can lead the nests,_ " said Buddy. " _The males are slightly smaller and exist primarily for the purpose of making dragonets with the females. Your mother would have cast you out of the nest as soon as you were old enough to look after yourself. If you were a girl, she'd keep you there and teach you how to be a queen, like she was. Your father, wherever he is, doesn't even know you exist. The males leave right after they finish mating with the females, and they never know whether or not they have dragonets. It may seem like a drag, but that's just the way things are with your species._ "

Whether or not Mortem understood all of that, Buddy could tell that he got what he had been trying to tell him. " _So, what do I do?_ "

" _You stay here with us,_ " was Buddy's answer. " _We are more than capable of protecting you, Mortem. You can trust us, I promise._ "

Mortem gave his new friend a brief smile before staring out at the lake in front of him. " _What are your mama and papa like?_ " he asked.

" _Well_ _..._ " Buddy hesitated. He knew the answer to half the question, but the other half was a bit trickier. " _My mother is Archia the Shiny Arceus, but she didn't actually have me. See, Archon and Archia created me from seventeen of these slates each containing the power of different elements, known as Type Plates. I've still inherited all of their powers, including the ability to change my type at will, but I cannot use them so long as I'm wearing this helmet._ " He lifted an insectoid claw to point at his headwear. " _Shortly after I was, uh, 'born,' I lost control of my powers and started destroying everything in my path. My father helped the Resistance create this helmet to neutralize my powers until I become strong enough to control them. Ever since then, I've been working harder and harder to be the best I can be, and make my father proud._ "

It sounded a little better than the story of Mortem's mother. At least, it was to the dragonet.

Buddy stood up. " _Believe it or not, talking to you has actually helped me feel better. Thank you, Mortem._ " He started to head towards the cove's exit.

" _Where are you going?_ " Mortem asked, worriedly. He didn't want to be left alone again.

Buddy stopped and looked over his shoulder at the dragonet. " _With luck, forward._ "

He then broke into a run towards home, leaving a company-seeking Mortem to figure out the meaning of what he had said.

* * *

Hiccup had to cancel what was supposed to be the team's first day back at the academy because he had gone out to look for Buddy. By the time he got back, the only light in the sky came from the stars and moon. The rider and Night Fury duo found their friends at the team home at Raven Point.

You could only imagine the look on Hiccup's face when he realized that Buddy had ended up returning home all by himself, while he had gone and spent the whole day practically turning the entire island upside down looking for the Type: Null.

Buddy gave his master a sort of croon before retreating upstairs for the night.

Hiccup stood there frozen for...he wasn't sure how long. He could vaguely hear Snivels and Astrid calling his name, but he had lost all the brain function he needed to respond.

A good, strong punch in the shoulder from his wife brought him back. "OW!"

Snivels couldn't help laughing. "I don't think I've ever seen you stare like that since the night you shot down Toothless. You know, when that fireball exploded from behind Astrid? The look on your face was just..."

"Stop talking!" Hiccup managed to shout, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. "You can't just go around saying stuff like that!" He could see the look Astrid was giving him out of the corner of his eye. She didn't look surprised, but there was definitely some amusement.

Snivels shrugged. "Well, she was bound to find out eventually."

Hiccup knew he was right. But did that really have to happen now, of all times? He avoided making eye contact with Astrid as all the other team members in the room laughed at what was occurring. Even Kickin' Hawk, who seldom laughed, couldn't resist a chuckle.

" **SEe hoW ThEy'RE aLL laUghINg At YoU?** "

Hiccup stiffened at the sound of those voices. They were the same ones from his dream. He hurried back outside, shutting the door behind him. He couldn't help but wonder if any of his friends could also hear it.

" **TheY caNNoT hEaR** **mE,** " said the voices. " **I aM OnLY sPEAkinG tO YOu. YoU HavE yET To anSWeR Me. LeT mE feED ofF YoUR neGaTiVE eMoTIonS aNd I wiLL grAnT YoU wHATevER yOU deSIrE. Do wE haVE A dEAl?** "

Hiccup shook his head frantically. _No. It's a trick. It has to be a trick._

" **SmARt bOY,** " said the voices. " **I cAN UsE thAt In A pAWn. BuT I aM sTiLL wEAk, aNd thE Light iS ToO sTRonG. WhAT a piTY. TheRe mAY bE eASieR pREy elSEwherE, BuT doN'T thINK THis iS tHe laST YoU WilL eVEr HeAr oF Dark Matter.** "

Finally, the voices left. Hiccup had a feeling he wouldn't be hearing them again for a long time. Still, the idea of whatever it was that was speaking to him returning someday, like it said it would, sent chills down his spine.

Something slammed into his back, and he turned to find the door to the house open with Astrid, Snivels and Kickin' Hawk standing in the doorway. Hiccup had been standing in close proximity to the front of the house, so the door ended up hitting him in the back when Astrid opened it.

"Sorry," the former Hofferson apologized when she heard her husband cry out in pain from the impact.

Hiccup shrugged it off. "I actually kinda needed that. All these voices in my head have been driving me crazy."

Kickin' Hawk looked alarmed. "What kind of voices?" he asked.

"They said something about the light being too strong," Hiccup said, his face twisted in confusion over the meaning of the phrase. "And then...Dark Matter, or something like that."

That was what Kickin' Hawk was afraid of. "Dark Matter has been speaking to you?" Then he relaxed. "But the light is too strong for it to get to you. Just as well."

"Dark Matter?" Snivels repeated. "That's what Sarabeth said was controlling her, making her do all of those evil things." He was saddened by the memory of his deceased aunt.

Now Astrid was concerned. "When did this start happening?"

"Just last night," was Hiccup's reply. "I'll admit I should have said something then, but I was a little more concerned about what was going on with Buddy."

"Putting the needs of a friend before his own," Snivels muttered to himself. "Typical Hiccup."

Who knows how the conversation would have continued, because at that very moment, Heather and Brandyn came soaring in on Windshear and Buck.

Before anyone could ask, Brandyn started to explain. "Guys, Heather and I were -" He paused, then spoke rather slowly, as if he were considering what he was about to say. "...Patrolling the island, and spotted some Outcast ships heading this way."

"We think, at the rate they're traveling, that they'll reach Berk before sunrise," Heather said as she dismounted her dragon. She exchanged a look with Brandyn that said, "that was close."

That particular news couldn't have come at a worse time. It was well into the night, when most, if not all, of Team Go-Getters was supposed to be asleep.

Cue Hiccup's ever-so-quick thinking. "Gather all the team members you can," he ordered Snivels. "Make sure they're awake. Anyone who's half-asleep will be slow on the battlefield, and we don't want to risk them geting hurt."

In moments, the Servine had gathered Blaze, Ninjark, Adhesive and a very determined-looking Buddy. Counting the four trainers and Kickin' Hawk, the total added up to exactly ten.

Not a great number, but it wasn't really bad, either.

* * *

A small group of ships drifted purposefully through the water toward the landmass in the distance. The wind was with them, propelling the vessels forward that much faster. Which was fine with Alvin. The sooner Berk fell, the better.

Savage approached the Outcast leader, his hands shaking a little. "Are you sure we're not going to run into that dragon again, sir?"

"Word around Berk has it no one's seem him since that day," Alvin said, a little overconfident. "Besides, we're Outcasts, we can handle him!"

Savage, however, knew otherwise. "He took out our entire fleet single-handedly! Impenetrable scales, claws that slice through anything, and a roar as mighty as a Thunderdrum!" Very few Outcasts were smart enough to properly use a rather big word like "impenetrable," and Savage was lucky to be one of them.

Alvin was very much aware of how their encounter with that overpowered dragon had turned out, but he wouldn't be the leader of the Outcasts if he let it get to him like it had with Savage.

Suddenly, the boat rocked ominously as something below deck tried to escape. Alvin's Dusknoir, Hyde, and about a dozen of the Outcasts' Houndoom minions had to push down on the hatch to keep whatever was down there contained.

"That Dragon Conqueror is in for one big surprise," Alvin said with a sneer.

* * *

The moon was shining brightly over the ocean as the four trainers and their Pokémon partners flew onward toward their next mission. On the surface down below, the shadows of the Outcast ships could clearly be seen moving steadily toward Berk.

But the team had an advantage. While they could see the ships, the men down below likely could not see them. On their regular training routines, Hiccup had been teaching his friends how to move more stealthily at night. With enough training, even the most conspicuous dragons and Pokémon could stay well hidden from any foe.

With every second, they were getting closer to the enemy vessels. They were practically on top of them when Hiccup noticed that Buddy was once again nowhere to be seen. Before he could ask, Adhesive flew over to explain before the Go-Getter leader started panicking again.

"Buddy went to go and get something."

There wasn't time for Hiccup to wonder what that "something" was. They needed to send the Outcasts packing, and they had to do it now.

The first stage of the attack commenced. Pushing on Toothless's saddle, Hiccup urged the Night Fury into a steep dive toward the ships. His midnight-black wings spread wide, Toothless allowed combustible gas to build up in the back of his throat as he readied a plasma blast.

The power of the blast got the main ship rocking back and forth from the impact.

That was the team's cue to join in. One after another, the members of Team Go-Getters dove after their leader.

"Open fire, gang!" Hiccup shouted the order.

In an instant, it was chaos. The not-very-brave Outcast soldiers scattered to avoid Stormfly's spines Wavern and Blaze were close behind, raining deafening and fiery mayhem on the watercrafts. Windshear unleashed a flurry of her own spines, alongside Ninjark's Water Shuriken and Adhesive's toxic fluids. Kickin' Hawk and Buck's attacks were much more physical. While the Hawlucha piledrove a good number of Houndoom, the Grapple Grounder swooped down onto the deck of one of the smaller ships, grabbed several soldiers in his coils and started squeezing them tightly enough to make their eyes pop right out of their sockets.

Safe behind a crate at the bow of the main ship, Savage nervously scanned the skies. "Do you see the dragon, sir?"

"Quit your whining," Alvin said sternly. "Release the Changewings!"

Hiccup steered Toothless around for another attack run, avoiding crossbow shots as they moved across the sky. Even though he knew the Outcasts probably couldn't see him from so far below, he shook his head with exasperation. Alvin really needed to train them better, because their aim was absolutely terrible.

"Get ready for another plasma blast, bud," he said.

Toothless growled and opened his jaws, already gathering blue fire at the back of his throat. But just then, the hatch on the main ship opened, and a trio of angry Changewings burst free from the cargo hold and immediately flew for the heroes soaring above the fleet of ships.

Each member barely avoided the blobs of acid the camouflaging dragons spat at them. "How did they even get those?!" Snivels shouted to no one in particular. "You'd have to be either the bravest or most stupid person ever to go anywhere near a Changewing!"

Adhesive winced a little. "You might not want to say that in front of Glory."

At that very moment, a loud, yet nowhere near mature, roar made the Changewings freeze. They knew that sound, and they did not like it one little bit.

"What was that?" Heather asked, scanning the area.

Adhesive looked over his shoulder, barely catching a large object heading their way through the air. He smiled.

"Reinforcements."

Hiccup turned around, curious to see what the Poipole was talking about. He nearly fainted at what he saw.

It was Buddy, riding on the back of Mortem, who was lucky to be just old enough to get himself airborne.

One good look at Mortem was all it took to make the Changewings scatter and fly away in fright. No way they'd be sticking around as long as they knew what kind of dragon Mortem was.

Now it was right back to how the fight was going before, this time with the added firepower of a Red Death dragonet. Buddy joined in, too, with his Air Slash.

Things were going smoothly until Hiccup was suddenly pulled right out of the saddle. He cried out as Toothless started plummeting helplessly toward the ocean surface.

Quick as lightning, Verne and Wavern both went into a dive, catching Toothless in their talons just before he hit the water. Snivels and Blaze both sighed in relief. "Nice catch, guys," the Servine complimented.

While all that was happening, Hiccup had found himself face-to-face with Alvin. It took a moment for Hiccup to realize that Hyde was holding him by the back of his shirt collar.

The treacherous Outcast leader unsheathed his sword. "Nobody move, or the boy gets it."

The Go-Getters know full well what he meant, and each directed their dragons into a safe hover.

Alvin opened his mouth to speak, but then noticed by chance that his men had stopped moving as well. Even Savage was standing as stiff and still as a statue.

"Not you, fools!" Alvin snapped, pointing at their aerial adversaries. "Them!"

All at once, the soldiers sighed in relief as they allowed their muscles to relax. "Thank you, sir," uttered Savage. "That was a very hard position to hold."

Alvin turned back to look at Hiccup, who had been struggling in Hyde's grip while he'd been yelling at his soldiers. "Care to tell us where you're keeping that dragon?"

"What dragon?" asked a genuinely confused Hiccup. Team Go-Getters had so many different species, it was hard to tell exactly which one Alvin was referring to.

Expecting that to be the Haddock boy's response Alvin chuckled. (If Hiccup had to guess, the Outcast leader probably missed that fact that his confusion wasn't a trick to get Hyde to release him.) "You take me for a fool, boy? Whatever kind of dragon you sent out, we'll be able to find it, sooner or later. You should know how it single-handedly took out my entire fleet." He started pacing back and forth as he spoke. "Our arrows were incapable of penetrating its scales, its claws sliced through out mast like it was a wee little toothpick, and its roar was as mighty as a Thunderdrum. Does any of that sound familiar to you?"

Now Hiccup, and the team, for that matter, knew exactly what Alvin was talking about. Adhesive confirmed this when he couldn't help but blurt out, "Dreki?"

Alvin heard him. "So, that's what you call it?" He raised his sword, pointing it at Hiccup's neck. "Where I can find this Dreki?"

Hiccup was pretty sure that if he told Alvin that Dreki was actually his own anger that was given a mind and body of its own by a concoction Heather whipped up from a recipe found in Adhesive's alchemy textbook from Ultra Megalopolis University, he'd think he'd gone nuts. So, he gave the Outcast leader the only logical answer he could think of.

"I can't tell you."

Alvin took that answer surprisingly well. "Have it your way," he said, lowering the sword.

The next thing Hiccup knew, his entire body seized with pain. He strained to look at Hyde, whose one lone eye was glowing purple and light red. It took Hiccup a minute to realize that the Dusknoir was using Hex on him.

Alvin's methods of torture were definitely getting more extreme.

Of all the friends who wanted to save Hiccup from being seriously hurt (or worse), Buddy was the first to react. The glare he was sending Hyde was so strong, it was enough to make his helmet crack.

In fact, that's exactly what it did.

Small cracks formed around the eyes of Buddy's helmet and quickly started spreading across the entire mask. Buddy paid it no mind, his thoughts were only on saving his master.

The other team members noticed, though, when the mask shattered, revealing a mechanical, lupine head covered in silver fur.

Buddy let out a deafening shriek for the first time since what felt like forever, catching the attention of Hyde. When the Dusknoir didn't falter, Buddy launched himself off of Mortem's back, enveloped himself in flames, and charged.

Hiccup barely had time to see Buddy slam headfirst into Alvin's Dusknoir before the pain from Hyde's powerful Hex made him pass out. The force of Buddy's Flame Charge forced Hyde to drop his hostage, who would have hit the deck of the ship hard if Buddy hadn't caught him on his back. The newly-restored Legendary Pokémon gazed down at the unconscious form of his friend, worry etched into his facial features. Then, without realizing what he was doing, he stuttered out a word.

"M-m-m-master?"

Hiccup stirred, but didn't wake.

And that was okay, because all Buddy needed to know was that his master was alive.

Hyde groaned as he picked himself off the deck of the ship, smoke billowing off his body where Buddy's Flame Charge had struck him.

If Alvin wasn't angry before, he was really ticked off now. "How dare you!"

Buddy glared right back at the leader of the Outcasts, his eyes glowing a blinding white. The wind began to moan, the sails of the ships trembling and the wooden masts creaking. The ocean waves grew larger and more powerful, rocking the ships with more ferocity. The wind picked up, it was whistling now. Buddy spoke to Alvin in a deep, echoing voice.

"You don't know what you are dealing with. You and your men can do and say whatever you want to us, but if you so much as lay a finger on Master, then you will have to answer to the son of Arceus! I saved Master from you once before, and I can just as easily do it again! But this time, you've crossed the line. I never want to see you, or any of your bumbling men and Pokémon slaves, near this island _ever **again!**_ "

A mighty shockwave of bright aura burst out from where Buddy was standing, sending all the Outcasts, Viking and Pokémon alike, helplessly flying through the air to a faraway location. Even the hard-to-terrify Alvin the Treacherous was screaming like a little girl as the son of Arceus sent him and Hyde packing.

That wasn't all that Buddy's new power had done. He'd also teleported himself and his friends back home to Raven Point. Buddy and the dragons relaxed as they felt their claws and paws settle into the grass.

Buddy sighed happily as the knowledge of the results from his act of selfless bravery finally set in. "I've got my powers back." _And my voice._

Adhesive was the first to recover from the shock and confusion of being teleported back to Berk. "You could have used them a bit more," he suggested. "Maybe send the Outcasts packing once and for all."

"I wanted to scare them," Buddy remarked. "Not myself." He saw Astrid dismount Stormfly not too far away and lowered himself to the ground, allowing her to lift her unconscious husband off of the Synthetic Pokémon's back. "Master will be fine after a proper night's rest. In fact, we could all use it right about now."

"Like we needed you to point that out," Snivels muttered under his breath.

* * *

Alvin awoke with a pounding headache. Grasping at his helmet with one hand, he unshakingly rose to his feet to survey his surroundings.

All of his mean were scattered around a cave none of them recognized. Little Fireworm dragons were scampering around giant combs that looked like those one would find in a beehive.

From nearby, Savage let out a groan, leaning his hand on one of the firecomb walls as he pulled himself up. "Alvin, where are we?" Perhaps it was bad luck, but the firecomb Savage was leaning on snapped off the wall and clattered to the cave floor.

The effects were immediate.

A loud roar bellowed from within the cave tunnels, and a gigantic Fireworm crawled out of the shadows. Apart from its size, the protuberances in the back and front of her head that resembled a crown set her apart from all the other Fireworms.

The Fireworm Queen set her angry eyes on the lackey who had disturbed her precious firecomb supply.

Alvin let out an animalistic snarl. "I really hate those stupid kids."

* * *

It was a sunny day again, much to the delight of Berk as a whole. But before Team Go-Getters could enjoy the beautiful weather, they had to wait for the Viking Dragon Riders to join them for today's exercise.

Not only that, but Buddy had brought an unexpected guest to the academy that morning.

"What is Mortem doing here?" Astrid questioned aloud.

With an unwavering smile, Buddy stated, "Well, I've always wanted a pet, and now that I've broken free of my mask, I have more than enough power to protect him from all the Vikings that inhabit this stretch of islands." He reached a claw up and scratched Mortem in that sweet spot on the neck that all dragons had, making the dragonet croon happily.

"So, this is what Type: Full looks like," Brandyn mused, looking over Buddy with a smile.

That earned him the evil eye from the son of Arceus. "I do not like that name. I'd come up with a new one, but Pokémon aren't supposed to name their own species."

"Well, maybe we can help with that," offered Snivels.

Giving his friend a grateful smile, Buddy replied, "Alright, let's see what you can come up with."

"It should be Arceusson," Adhesive said, almost jokingly.

"Chimeramalgam?" Ninjark suggested.

Hiccup was too deep in thought to listen. He had never seen a Pokémon like the one Buddy had become, one that was so strong and determined. He was happy to have met Buddy, he probably would have still been stuck in the Outcast prison if it wasn't for him. Ever since day one, Buddy had been a friend to him, an ally.

"I might have a name for your species," Hiccup muttered, just loud enough for Buddy to hear.

The Synthetic Pokémon looked at his master. "Let's hear it, then."

Hiccup gazed at Buddy's silver fur, which shone in the bright morning light.

"I was thinking, maybe...Silvally?"

"Silvally," Buddy repeated thoughtfully. He smiled. "I like it."

* * *

 _All it can take is one act, big or small, to allow the true power within to finally shine through._

 _Buddy managed to surprise us in his own way._

 _And he is definitely no exception._

* * *

Snivels watched as the words "How to Train Your Dragon" appeared on the screen of Adhesive's laptop for a few seconds before the credits started rolling. "Well, that was definitely better than the books," he said.

The Poipole who owned the laptop chuckled. "Told you so." He reached for the wireless mouse he used to move the laptop's cursor. "Wanna watch my favorite part again?"

Snivels rolled his eyes. "We've seen it five times already!" He took a moment to rethink the situation before shrugging. "But I guess one more time couldn't hurt."

With a smile, Adhesive clicked the mouse a few times before the movie started playing at the point he'd selected.

" _That's for scaring me._ "

" _Wh-what?! Is it always going to be this way, 'cause...I could get used to it._ "

Grinning, Adhesive muttered to himself, "That never gets old."

Snivels fought hard to keep a smirk from appearing on his face. He lost. "It's even better in person, believe me."

The two sat in silence for a while before Snivels suddenly commented on something he'd read in the credits. "I was going to ask you who Jay Baurchel and America Ferrera are, but I think I've found my answer." He turned to look at Adhesive. "I couldn't help but notice a thanks to them from Cressida at the end of her last book."

"Yeah," Adhesive said, "The author likes Hiccstrid, too. Speaking of which..." He paused to pull a book out of his duffel bag. "I have a new reading recommendation, and I think you're going to like this one." He handed the book to Snivels, who read the title aloud.

"Wings of Fire."

The Servine smiled.

"Now that sounds promising."

* * *

 **Hey, I had to put the Fireworm Queen in this somehow. Now she's the Outcasts' problem!**

 **In Super Mystery Dungeon, Dark Matter is able to mind control Pokemon that have even the smallest amount of darkness in their hearts. In this series, I tweaked its powers a little, so now it can't control anyone who has a lot of light in their heart.**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I do. I think it's an improvement, but to each their own, right?**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Fright of Passage

 **Aside from the episode not ending the way I thought (or hoped) it would, this is probably my favorite out of the Defenders series.**

* * *

 _Honor is huge for Vikings. So huge, in fact, that what may seem like a personal matter can drastically affect the rest of your family. Some people take that a little more violently than others._

 _And Astrid is one of them._

* * *

 ** _Ten Years Ago_**

"THE FLIGHTMARE IS HERE!"

That was all it took to send the citizens of Berk into a panic. Under the beautiful glow of the astral phenomenon known as Arvendil's Fire, an aurora that painted the night sky more artistically than any human could hope to recreate, warriors ran to and fro to protect their homes from the infamous dragon. Those who could not fight gathered their children and huddled in their homes, hoping that the dreaded Flightmare would not decide to destroy their houses next.

When the hideous screech of the salamander-like Flightmare first ripped through the night, though, even the brave Berkian warriors trembled in fear.

"Save yourselves!"

"It's too late!"

"Don't look at it!"

"The Flightmare is upon us!"

The beast itself descended on Berk, wreathed in the same brilliant glow as Arvendil's Fire. It was like a shining, flying teardrop. With its legs tucked in and its slimy wings beating, the Flightmare could fly like no other. It was so fearsome that there had not, never in the history of Berk, ever been any other dragons raiding on the same night as a Flightmare encounter.

It was that scary.

As Vikings all over the village shut themselves away in their homes, one small girl didn't run. Five-year-old Astrid Hofferson instead picked up her tiny training axe and scowled fiercely at the sky, hoping to catch a glimpse of the hated dragon. She had trained for her entire life for this moment. She wanted to be the brave Viking that killed the Flightmare and freed Berk from its terror once and for all.

There it was! A beacon of blue light against the greens and purples of Arvendil's fire, the Flightmare soared around for another go at a house it was having difficulty destroying. Letting out a squeaky battle cry (that was more than a little adorable coming from someone as young as her), Astrid ran as fast as her little legs would carry her, hoping for a clear shot at the dragon.

But someone stood in her way.

"Oh no you don't, Astrid," her uncle Finn warned her, placing a hand in her path. "This is not a battle you can handle. Well...not yet, anyway."

Just because Uncle Finn was one of the best and proudest warriors in the village, so long as his Machamp was by his side, didn't give him the right to take all of Astrid's glory! She frowned at him and tried to go around him, but he kept on blocking her way.

"I understand," Finn said affectionately, patting Astrid's head. "You wait here. Uncle Finn is going to make sure the Flightmare doesn't destroy Berk ever again."

She scowled, the expression clearly meant to be fierce but instead coming off as adorable.

While other Vikings and Pokémon screamed and ran wherever the Flightmare went, Finn and Machamp broke the trend by running right for the terrible dragon. For indeed, he wasn't just any warrior – he was Fearless Finn Hofferson, best dragon killer in all of Berk. Well, besides Stoick the Vast, and possibly Gobber. Either way, he was still really good at what he did.

The glow of the Flightmare abruptly vanished as it flew toward the cliff, where one of the houses blocked Finn's sight of it. But that didn't matter to him. Fearless Finn Hofferson shouted with rage and ran onto the cliff, his axe held high.

"Here I am, you ungodly beast! Fearless Finn Hofferson! Come and get me, if you dare!"

The dragon shrieked and flew up into the air, its glow gradually becoming more intense. When the Flightmare spread its wings, the bright blue light enveloped the entire area. Any thoughts Fearless Finn and Machamp had about charging forward, or going anywhere for that matter, were out the window as they found they were unable to move.

The last sound the frozen Finn Hofferson and Machamp ever heard was the screech of the most feared dragon on Berk.

The Flightmare, now finished with its two victims, flew through the plaza and continued with its act of causing destruction. The villagers all shut their windows in an attempt to hide from the dragon.

"Where is Finn?" demanded Stoick, looking around at the devastation.

"He was there!" announced Spitelout. "He went to battle the beast! And he just...froze!"

Astrid wasn't the only child who had overheard. Not too far away, a young boy was cowering behind one of the houses. Neither of them could believe someone as fearless as Finn Hofferson would be terrified of the Flightmare.

The distant glow of the Flightmare taunted the young Astrid, who was about to swing her axe in anger, only to be stopped by Gobber.

"It's gonna take a lot more that that wee axe, Astrid," the blacksmith said.

Hiccup wanted to do something. Whenever he was scared or upset, he'd want a hug. But perhaps that wasn't the best thing to do, not while the girl he wanted to help looked like she'd chop his head clean off without a second thought.

So, he did the only other thing he could think of.

He ran.

But no amount of distance he put between himself and Astrid would keep him from hearing her scream out in anger.

Both of them would forever remember that day as the day Astrid's family had been shamed.

When Fearless Finn Hofferson had been so overcome with fear that he had done nothing to stop the Flightmare's rampage.

When the name of Hofferson became synonymous with 'coward'.

And it was all that dragon's fault.

* * *

 ** _Present Day_**

Hiccup was scared out of his wits.

In all his years of life, he had faced many threats that would have made most Vikings wet their pants. Before he brought the war to an end, he had dodged angry dragons, taken down a Night Fury, and faced off with the Red Death. After that was even worse – because that was when Outcasts, Berserkers, and yet more angry dragons had entered his life. Just a short time ago, he had been a victim in possibly the greatest and most dangerous scheme conducted by a league of villains from countless different worlds.

But right now, he was staring at something that was more frightening than all of that put together.

His wife.

For hours, all Astrid had been doing was hacking, slashing, and demolishing random objects with her double-bladed axe. And she hadn't stopped. Not once. She just kept relentlessly destroying things in a mindless fit of fury that showed absolutely no signs of abating.

He was so scared that he didn't even want to move. When she was in this kind of mood, Astrid was pretty much the living embodiment of the unstoppable force.

"Astrid's been killing inanimate objects all day," Blaze whispered in Hiccup's ear as she strode through the gate. "Seriously, I left this place to eat lunch three hours ago, and it doesn't look like she's lost her momentum at all. Are we sure she's not a Berserker in disguise?"

"She's just wound up about the Flightmare," he replied. "Everyone thinks it'll be back tonight with Arvendil's Fire. Speaking of which...Snivels?" he prompted, turning to his friend. "Do you know anything about this dragon?"

The Servine just shrugged sadly. "No more than you guys. Arvendil's Fire only happens once every ten years, and I certainly haven't been alive long enough to have seen the last one!"

Classes at the academy had been dismissed early due to Astrid's behavior, but Snotlout and his Magmar, Heat, had stayed behind to watch the show. The arrogant boy and his Spitfire Pokémon both leaned against the wall acting like they owned the place. "She's wasting her time," Snotlout laughed, loudly. "When the Flightmare comes, the Hoffersons freeze. Isn't that right, Astrid? I mean, you are a –"

Suddenly, there was a razor-sharp weapon embedded in the stone wall directly in front of him – literally an inch from his nose.

"...Hofferson," he finished in the form of a terrified whimper.

Sighing, Hiccup stepped in to keep what little peace there was. "Okay, everyone, let's take it easy. Just because Arvendil's Fire is coming doesn't mean the Flightmare is, too."

"The odds are pretty high, Hiccup," said Brandyn. "I may not know Berk, but obviously, the Flightmare appears when the sky lights up with Arvendil's Fire."

Astrid pointedly raised an eyebrow at Hiccup. "You were saying?"

Ignoring her, Hiccup threw Brandyn a withering look and asked him, "Is there anything else you know about the Flightmare? Any new information might be enough to help us figure out why its comes here."

"Wish I did," Brandyn replied, sadly. "All the studying I did for training at the Resistance, and they had little to absolutely nothing on Flightmares."

Heather, however, had a bit of info she thought would be useful. "I heard someone in the village say the Flightmare is so terrifying, it's able to freeze their prey right in its tracks."

"Yeah, why don't you ask Frozen Finn Hofferson?" Snotlout jeered.

It took maybe two seconds for Astrid to pin him to the ground with her boot crushing his face. On the sidelines, Hiccup shivered and sent his thanks to Arceus that it wasn't him suffering her pitiless wrath.

"You think it's funny, Snotlout?!" Astrid screeched. "You think it's a joke that my family name was ruined by that dragon?!"

There was a whimper of pain from underneath her as Snotlout tried to move his mouth enough to form a legible reply. He mumbled, "I did find it funny a couple of minutes ago, but now I can see how it might be upsetting you."

Astrid wasn't the only one who was upset. Hiccup's level of worry had gone up to eleven the moment he realized what day it was, and the effect it was having on his wife. Ever since that fateful night ten years ago, Astrid had put her entire heart and soul into training to kill dragons, especially the one that had shamed the Hofferson family. They had completely forgotten about it with all the things going on like Hiccup shooting down a Night Fury and discovering dragons weren't at all what people thought they were. But now, with the inevitable light show to be happening that night, she'd devolved right back to her old, over-aggressive self.

"Hey guys, I know this is a bad time, but does anyone know what else is important about today?" asked Snivels, nervously eyeing the seething former Hofferson.

After taking a second to think about it, Hiccup decided that he'd have to figure that out later. He was more concerned about how the heck he was going to remind Astrid that Team Go-Getters was as much her family as the Hoffersons were without accidentally revealing to Snotlout, or any of the other Vikings, that she was married to him.

"Everyone's talking about how the Flightmare is coming back tonight," Blaze casually mentioned.

"Well, that and Astrid's uncle," Ninjark added.

"Hey, a little sensitivity here!" whined Snotlout. "Can I get up now?"

Snarling, Astrid finally got off of him and went to retrieve her axe, practically ripping it out of the wall. She then stalked out of the arena without so much as a glare in any of the riders' directions, her mood so stormy that clouds were practically forming over her head.

Huffing irritably, Hiccup cast a scathing look at his friends. "Thanks a lot, guys. Really appreciate it."

"Relax," Blaze replied, "I'll go talk to her. She listens to me."

Hiccup just stood there, staring after his wife until he could no longer see her. He didn't think he'd have to remind her who her family was now, and he doubted that conversation would go very smoothly.

A sympathetic Toothless padded over and gently nudged his rider with his nose. The response he got from that was, "She's really taking this hard, huh, bud?"

The Night Fury growled softly in reply.

Hiccup sighed. "Astrid..."

"She sure is," a voice said in amusement. Hiccup turned to find Adhesive hovering not to far behind him. The Poipole expected to at least get a chuckle out of his friends, but frowned when he got nothing. "Oh, come on, anyone who knows her name ought to get that joke." His demeanor changed as he went to leave the arena, as he started singing happily to himself, " _Hiccup and Astrid, flying in the sky, getting all K-I-S-S-Y..._ "

* * *

The sun was setting when Hiccup strolled into the forest at Raven Point to meet with Snivels. The Servine had requested that he meet with his trainer to discuss an "urgent matter," as he put it. In return, Hiccup had requested that his best friend do some research for him, and Snivels was certainly not the type to pass up an opportunity to learn more about a rare dragon.

On his way to the planned meeting place, Hiccup noticed Astrid sitting on the ground in front of the team's house, running a stone over her axe.

Oh no. He did not like that look on her face.

But at least she wasn't alone. Blaze was talking to her, just like she'd said she would.

"Look, I'm no stranger to what it is you're trying to do. But don't you think you're taking it a little too far? Haven't you learned by now that you can't face every threat in this world all by yourself? It's always a good idea to have backup, you know."

Astrid tried, but could find no way to ignore what the Blaziken was saying. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, Blaze, but this is between the Hoffersons, and no one else."

"But you're not a Hofferson," Blaze reminded her. "Not anymore, anyway."

Astrid couldn't help but gaze down at the pendant that was hanging around her neck. She'd told the Vikings in the village below that it was just a simple trinket Hiccup had given to her. But it was so much more than that. He'd given to her as a gift just a week before their wedding at the Ice Caves, and she'd yet to take it off since that day. It was, along with their wedding rings, a symbol of their devotion and undying love for one another.

The former Hofferson snapped out of her trance when she caught Blaze giving her a smug grin. She scoffed, "I still need to do this alone."

Deciding that perhaps he should take over, Hiccup stepped closer to try and talk her out of what she was undoubtedly planning – well, even if she wasn't, at least "running away in the middle of the night to fight the Flightmare alone unless it didn't show up at all" was a really good guess, considering her mood. The setting sun cast his long shadow over her face, prompting her to look up and scowl at him.

He didn't much like that look, either.

"I don't want to hear it, Hiccup," she told him, sharply. "I've waited my whole life for a chance to clear my family's name, and you're not going to stop me."

"Who said anything about stopping you?" he asked, caught off guard by the accusation.

She scoffed at him and picked up her axe, then left him for elsewhere.

"Okay, clearly being a supportive husband isn't doing me any favors," Hiccup muttered to himself, almost disappointed that Astrid wasn't going to hear that brilliantly sarcastic line.

...On second thought, he was quite thankful, because she probably would've punched him for that.

He caught up to her rather quickly, planting himself directly in her path and talking before she could brush him off. "Look, no-one loves a new and interesting dragon more than I do," he explained, "Okay, Snivels does, but that's not the point. I need you and the others to defend Berk. If that thing does show up again, it'll take all of us to drive it away."

Thankfully, she folded her arms and glared instead of ignoring him.

"Not if it doesn't even get here!" she retorted. Then she smirked devilishly. "Come on, Hiccup, tell me you haven't been dreaming about the Flightmare," she said slyly. "Observing it, learning about it, training it..."

"Well..." Hiccup replied, shifting awkwardly. "You know, Astrid...training dragons isn't the only thing I think about."

Astrid raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you actually saying that to me with a straight face?"

Hiccup opened his mouth to reply, but didn't get the chance as Snivels happened to arrive at that exact moment. "Hey, Hiccup, I did the research you asked for!" He stopped when he noticed Astrid, realization dawning on him. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt..."

"It's fine," Hiccup insisted, trying to hide his disappointment. _The moment's already been ruined, anyway._

"Okay then," Snivels went on. "I asked some of the wild Pokémon on this island and used the information I gathered to make a map of the route that the Flightmare takes every ten years. For generations, it goes through the northern swamp on the way to the village. The same exact route, every time!"

With a wary glance at his wife, Hiccup muttered, "As helpful as that is, Astrid doesn't want to talk about the Flightmare right now..."

"Sure I do!" she assured him, brightly.

A little too brightly.

"So, anyway," Snivels continued, "If we can figure out why the Flightmare takes the same route again and again, there's a chance we'll be able to train it. But if you want to get close to it, you're going to have to be stealthy, virtually invisible in the dark."

"Stealthy," repeated Astrid. "Kind of like a...Night Fury?"

Catching on to what she was doing, Snivels groaned. "Exactly like a Night Fury."

"When do we leave then?" she asked.

They shared a brief discussion, and Hiccup admitted that it wouldn't be a bad idea to have Astrid tag along while they dragon-watched. Astrid told Hiccup that she had forgotten something at the house and getting it back would only take a minute, then dashed off without waiting for his response.

"So," Snivels said, now that he was alone with his best friend. "Anything else you might be planning later on? Maybe a little...surprise?"

Hiccup failed to catch any of the hints the Servine was giving him. His attention was entirely on Astrid.

 _Maybe marrying her was a mistake,_ he thought sadly to himself. _She's still a Hofferson at heart, and she wants to fight that dragon more than anything. I should have known this was going to happen. We got married too soon, I should have waited a few years. But I couldn't...because I love her too much._

Well, it wasn't really all bad. The life expectancy of humans wasn't that long, they'd be lucky to even reach their thirties, so marrying in their teenage years was pretty much the norm. Still, maybe it would have been a good idea for Hiccup to have waited just a little longer before he'd gone and popped the question...

Snivels caught on with what Hiccup was thinking quite easily, based on his trainer's expression and the direction he'd been looking. The Servine exchanged a look with Toothless, the message he was wordlessly sending as clear as day – _Are you serious right now?_

* * *

Had there been any visitors to the island that night, they would've wondered to themselves why all the Berkians on the island started panicking when an aurora lit up the night sky.

Arvendil's Fire was one of the rarest and most spectacular phenomena ever recorded in the history of the archipelago. It'd be crazy not to sit back and enjoy the natural light show while it lasted, as the pulsating banners that streaked across the sky were stunningly gorgeous on a clear night like tonight. But Berk was home to a long-standing tradition of terrifying dragon attacks that occurred with every aurora, and so they had long ago learned to associate the colors of Arvendil's Fire with the merciless beast that assaulted them upon its arrival.

So, as it were, the village was complete chaos, with warriors running to and fro with their weapons drawn, and mothers hurrying to get their children to safety before the attack began. Gobber was up on the roof of his forge, putting his experience as a battle-hardened Viking to good use by screaming his lungs out.

"Arvendil's Fire is here!" he bellowed to the panicking masses. "Everyone, get to your homes and stay inside!"

His voice could he heard from all the way up into the forest hills. Brandyn had gone out to the bluff to watch the light show, regardless of the high chance of the Flightmare showing up. There's no way he'd ever want to miss such a magnificent display of natural beauty.

 _Too bad Ra and Camazotz can't watch it with me,_ Brandyn thought to himself. _They would have loved this._

Just how long was it going to take for the two Cosmoem to evolve? Brandyn was tired enough of how silent and immobile they'd been ever since that night they had to go confront Dagur on Dragon Island. Sure, they'd gotten on his nerves at times, but he'd do just about anything to hear his partners talk again.

 _Heck, I'll even take them teasing me about being in love with Heather!_

As if on cue, the raven-haired girl stepped out of the shadows between the trees and went to join her boyfriend.

"They're really freaking out down there, huh?" she asked, referring to how Gobber was yelling at the top of his lungs for everyone to get into a shelter. "They should try finding a new island home, if this one dragon actually scares them all that much."

Brandyn chuckled at his girlfriend's joke. "Funny as that is, it just goes to show how right Snivels is about Vikings. They're always so judgmental, fearing and hating things they don't understand. If they can't be more like us, they should at least try to not cause so much trouble all the time."

"That would be nice," Heather mused. "I'd certainly love to go the rest of my life without having to look over my shoulder to make sure Alvin isn't there."

"Didn't he actually end up helping you?" Brandyn asked thoughtfully. "You'd have never met Team Go-Getters if he hadn't attempted to use you as a pawn in his plan."

Heather stared up at the banners of light decorating the sky instead of her boyfriend's eyes. "I never really thought about it like that," she admitted. "I still hate his guts, though."

"You're not alone in that department," Brandyn said, his face stretched out in a reassuring smile. "Neither of us have to be alone, anymore, in fact. Maybe this is just me, but I feel like things for me have gotten infinitely better since I met you. Well, actually, since I met all of Team Go-Getters, but really, every moment I spend with you is something special."

That earned him a heartfelt hug and a kiss on the cheek from his girlfriend.

"But Heather," he said, his smile faltering before it faded. "We can't keep this hidden. Our friends are starting to get suspicious. Maybe we should tell them about us."

Heather pulled out of the embrace she had initiated, frowning. "Ninjark has been asking me more questions than usual. I guess it wouldn't hurt if we told a few of our friends..."

"Of course it wouldn't."

It wasn't Brandyn who had said that.

The couple turned to see Adhesive fly out of the shadows, cell phone in hand. "I've been waiting a while for you guys to get together. You know, since I ship Heatherwings and all. With Arceus as my witness, I swear your secret will be safe with me."

The couple gave him a pair of grateful smiles. Though they quickly faded when Windshear and Buck also came out of hiding, chuckling in their typical draconic fashion.

* * *

Snivels strutted confidently into the house, unable to hide the smile on his face – until he saw that none of the other Pokémon were paying him any mind. Screaming internally out of frustration, he tried not to look disappointed as he approached Amber, who was sitting by the fireplace and watching the little Fireworm named Ziggerastica as he danced among the embers.

The Charizard looked up to see her mate standing beside her, and smiled warmly at him, despite the expectant look he was giving her.

"Is there anything important you'd like to say to me?" Snivels asked, trying to be polite about it.

Amber's smile faltered a little. "Snivels, I love you, thanks for being such a wonderful mate?"

Was he imagining it, or was there a bit of smugness hidden in her expression?

"That's not it," Snivels said, sadly.

"What then?" she asked. "If you're not going to tell me what I'm supposed to say, then how am I going to know when to say it?"

"Please tell me you didn't forget what today is!" he begged.

Blaze stepped in between the two Pokémon lovebirds. "Everyone knows what day it is," she said, which made Snivels smile hopefully. "It's the night of Arvendil's Fire. After today, we'll have to wait another ten years to see it again. And I don't wanna go pointing fingers at anyone, but some of our species might not be able to live for that much longer."

Immediately, Snivels's smile faded and he headed towards the door. "I think I'm gonna go for a walk."

As soon as he was out of earshot, Amber let out a loud sigh of relief. "I almost caved in there, thanks, Blaze."

"Don't mention it," Blaze said. "Seriously, though. We just need to keep him in the dark long enough to get the surprise ready."

"Maybe you should have left that task to me," Ninjark finally spoke up from his position in the far corner. "My species is naturally swift and secretive. We don't have the word 'ninja' in our name for nothing, after all."

To demonstrate his point, he leaped up into the rafters and disappeared into the shadows. Then he reappeared seconds later, right in between the two fiery females.

"You've got skill," Blaze admitted, "But you're not as close to Snivels as some of us are. You're probably listed as number seven or eight on his list of friends he'd talk to when he has something on his mind. No offense."

The Greninja didn't look as upset as she thought he'd be. "I'm actually gonna have to agree with that," he said. "But the next time you guys need someone who can move through the shadows as fast as a bolt of lightning, you know who to call."

* * *

The aquamarine light of Arvendil's Fire cast an eerie green glow over everything beneath it. The tops of the trees pulsed with light in tandem with the banners of color above them, contrasting spookily with the otherwise pitch-black forest where the light wasn't strong enough to reach. Hiccup observed this phenomenon with a strange feeling in his gut as Toothless passed over on their way to the swamp to the north.

"Okay," he called to Astrid over the wind. "We are going to observe the Flightmare. See what we can learn about it, try to redirect it...that kind of thing. If we can't, then we fall back to town."

He felt her hands on his shoulders. "And if it doesn't show up?"

"Then we've got an easy night, don't we?" he replied, turning his head to grin at her.

She smiled back, and took her hands away only to wrap her arms intimately around his waist. He felt her chest against his back, and her chin on his shoulder. Her warm breaths hit his cheek and neck, and he knew that if he turned his head, he'd see her lovely blue eyes fixed directly upon him.

Such a moment reminded him of that fateful flight on Toothless, the one where he and Astrid had been soaring amongst the banners of light not unlike Arvendil's Fire, but without the threat of the Flightmare's arrival. Maybe they'd have time to fly amongst the beautiful colors in the sky later, if they were lucky.

"But," he continued, trying to hide the fact that he was grinning like a lunatic. "We're observing. Understand?"

He felt her withdraw to a normal sitting position. "Sure," she answered.

"Say the words, 'I understand, Hiccup'," the Haddock boy insisted, pointing a finger in the air superiorly.

In somewhat of a drawl, Astrid repeated, "'I understand, Hiccup.'"

That was about the best he was going to get out of her.

"Well that just instills me with confidence," he muttered under his breath.

The terrain started to become less forested and more mountainous. Toothless rose higher so as not to risk flying into a rocky peak, and after maneuvering through the small mountain range, they found themselves soaring over a secluded clearing dominated by water and grass. Very few trees grew here. It seemed almost...mystical, in a way, when illuminated by the glow of the aurora.

"There's the swamp," Astrid reported. "Yep, I can't wait to...see this thing."

Ordinarily, Hiccup would've had alarm bells going off in his head at Astrid's suspicious pause, but something up ahead had him distracted.

It was a bluish glow, coming from behind the mountaintop directly ahead.

"We won't have to wait much longer," he told her. When the sound of wingbeats reached their ears, he raised his voice to shout, "Remember, observe only!"

The Flightmare was smaller than they remembered, about the same size as Toothless, but that's what happened when you encountered something you hadn't seen since your youth. The dragon's entire body was illuminated with a blue light like its own private Arvendil's Fire. It spotted them and unleashed its horrendous screech, diving down with its glowing claws ready to tear and its wings flashing with a blinding light.

With a yell, Hiccup tugged on Toothless's saddle and hurriedly steered them out of the way of the violent dragon. It passed them by, only to swoop right back in the direction from which it came, its glow never faltering for even a second. Toothless flew out of its way yet again, and turned tail to fly back the way they had come. The Flightmare leveled out and began to chase them, glowing as brightly as a star.

"Okay, it certainly lives up to the hype," Hiccup commented. Then, he heard the *sh-shiiiing* of Astrid's axe being unsheathed, and suddenly she was no longer behind him.

She was below him.

Panic bolted through Hiccup's system. "Astrid, what are you doing?!"

The former Hofferson landed flawlessly on her feet, an impressive feat given that she had just fallen dozens of meters. She stood in the middle of the swamp, in a clearing surrounded by dark, foreboding mountain peaks, with the sky swimming with rivers of luminescent color.

Astrid looked up to the black shape of Toothless circling above her, and shouted defiantly, "Defending Berk! And clearing my family name! We'll see who's a coward!"

Up above on Toothless's back, Hiccup sighed, completely disappointed in himself. He should've expected she would try to pull a stunt like this.

"Come on, Hiccup, you know her better than this..." he chastised himself.

Another hideous shriek blasted across the glowing sky. The Flightmare was coming, carving a banking turn over the mountains before diving straight for the stubborn human that had the idiocy to defy it. A brilliant light flashed from its wings with every flap.

"Here I am, you ungodly beast!" Astrid bellowed, lifting her weapon. "Fearless Astrid Hofferson! Come and get me, if you dare!"

Hiccup barely registered the fact that his wife had just said, almost word for word, what Finn Hofferson had bellowed at the Flightmare ten years ago. His heart had sunk down to the pit of his stomach when he realized she had neglected to refer to herself by her new surname.

The Flightmare flew right at her, spraying a mist from its gaping maw. Not knowing for sure what it was, Astrid swung her axe at it. The mist spread around her from the force of the blow, slowly and ever so surely enveloping Astrid in soft, eerie glow.

She was powerless to stop it.

She froze.

"NO!" Hiccup shouted. "Toothless, DIVE!"

Flapping its wings twice, the Flightmare rose above the ground. Not to escape while it could, but to finish off its prey in one pounce. However...

A plasma blast nailed it right in the side of the head, throwing it to the ground in a heap. While it was occupied, Hiccup did his best to ignore his pounding heartbeat and got off the saddle to help Astrid up. Her muscles were locked in place, unable to move.

"Okay, gotta go!" he panted. "Gotta go!"

With difficulty, he hauled Astrid into the saddle and climbed up in front of her. Toothless wasted absolutely no time, blasting into the air as soon as he knew his rider was in position. They made it up into the clouds just as they heard the Flightmare's screech of outrage.

The glowing dragon took to the air, looking this way and that. But Toothless's black scales hid him perfectly amongst the dark clouds of the night. Knowing that it would never be able to find them like this, the Flightmare eventually gave up searching and flew away.

Once he was sure the Flightmare wasn't going to come back their way, Hiccup steered Toothless out of the clouds and down to the clearing below them. "I think we lost it."

With the Flightmare gone, he could shift his attention back to Astrid. He grabbed her arms and shook her gently, uttering out her name, panic evident in his voice. To his immense relief, the blonde started to move again.

"What...what happened?" she muttered, clutching her head.

Hiccup answered, a tad uncertainly, "It, I don't know, sprayed you with some kind of mist. It paralyzed you."

He watched her eyes widen in horror as the significance of what had just happened crashed down upon her all at once.

"It...froze me," she spoke in a harsh whisper.

She shivered with cold and fear, and Hiccup wrapped his arms around her without hesitation, finally giving her the hug she needed ever since that dreadful night ten years ago. He could feel her heartbeat pounding against his chest, faster and harder than a dragon's wingbeats. That was why he hugged her so tightly, to introduce her to his warmth and to let her know that she didn't have to be scared.

Yep, the only reason why...

He let go when Astrid calmed down. "Well, the good news is the effects are only temporary. It gives the Flightmare just enough time to strike."

"I knew my uncle wasn't scared of that dragon," Astrid told him with certainty. "He was paralyzed by it."

In no time at all, the two of them were back up in the air. Hiccup was clutching the front of Toothless' saddle so hard that his knuckles were white. He had just realized, and accepted, that there was only one option open to them now, and it secretly made his blood run cold.

"Let me guess – we're falling back?" Astrid asked, somewhat dejectedly.

However, Hiccup shook his head, exactly the opposite of what she was expecting him to do. After all, he had been so against the idea of her going after the Flightmare.

"No, we're following the Flightmare," he replied. "We are the only thing between that dragon and Berk."

Astrid couldn't help it – she fist-pumped. "Yes!"

On Hiccup's word, Toothless took off, soon reaching a cruising altitude that allowed them to see far and wide across the island of Berk. More mountains passed underneath, followed by vast stretches of black forest.

But when Toothless cruised over the next mountaintop, the landscape opened up like a spread-out map, and their mouths hung open when they saw exactly what was below them.

"What in the name of Fjord?" whispered Hiccup.

It was the river – glowing as blue as the Flightmare.

* * *

Snivels walked through the dark forest, the only illumination coming from Arvendil's Fire up above.

Every now and again, he'd flinch a little at the sound of an animal's screech. The Flightmare was nearby. And wherever the Flightmare was, Hiccup, Astrid and Toothless were bound to be there as well.

But Snivels's attention wasn't exclusively on the Flightmare. Or the beautiful lights dancing across the sky.

He was sad. And mad. He'd waited for this day for quite some time, but for a completely different reason than Astrid had. He sighed as he trudged through the shadowy foliage that surrounded him like a blanket of darkness.

"I get that Arvendil's Fire only happens once in a decade, but did all my friends really have to go and forget my birthday?"

* * *

 **Poor Snivels. The first birthday he gets to spend with his friends and family is being completely overshadowed by Astrid's dilemma.**

 **...Or is it?**

 **Gotta feel sorry for Hiccup, too. It's not often the one you love gets so caught up in something that's been haunting them their whole life that they seem to forget just how important you are to them. This could definitely be a test in their marriage.**

 **P.S. Adhesive's joke can be hard to understand if you don't know the origin of Astrid's name. It means "divine beauty," so the joke he was going for was how well her name fits with her appearance.**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Scared Sniv-less

 **Sorry, I just couldn't resist that reference.**

* * *

After having their romantic moment on the bluff ruined by their dragons, Brandyn and Heather decided to head back to the house. They were both in on a carefully thought-out plan the team had come up with for Snivels's birthday. The Aetherson boy was leading the pack, so he reached the door first. He gave it five fast knocks and two slow ones.

Immediately, Ninjark called from the other side of the door, "What's the password?"

Heather rolled her eyes. "You can't ask us for a password you just made up, because we're not going to know it."

There was a long pause before Ninjark answered, "Good point."

Without delay, the Greninja pulled the door open, allowing his trainer and her boyfriend to join him and the other Pokémon in planning the surprise for Snivels. Adhesive flew in from behind the couple, a gift-wrapped box in his digitless hands.

"Where's Snivels?" Heather asked, scanning the room.

"He went out for a walk," Blaze replied. "He thinks we've all forgotten today is his birthday."

Amber looked worried. "Let's hope Hiccup and Astrid get back soon, the surprise won't be as special without everyone here. And if Snivels goes on thinking we've all forgotten what's so special about today, this could turn out to be his worst birthday ever."

Slowly, she brought one hand out from underneath her wing and brought out her own present for Snivels, which she'd kept hidden when he'd stopped by to ask her if she remembered it was his birthday. She grinned, hoping that her mate would enjoy what she'd gotten him for his special day.

"We can go check on them," Brandyn suggested. "They might need some help with the Flightmare."

Heather nodded in agreement. "Not to mention, we also need to figure out where Snivels went so we can lead him back here when it's time for the surprise."

"Can I go with you?" Adhesive asked. The way his eyes were shining told them he wanted to get up close and personal with the inevitable Hiccstrid.

His answer was the door being slammed in his face, eliminating his chances of witnessing what he knew would be one of the most emotional nights for his favorite couple. Adhesive turned to fly away sadly, only to be surprised when Brandyn opened the door a crack.

"By the way, I just got your joke from earlier."

He quickly shut the door to avoid having the Poipole slip out after them. He still managed to hear a somewhat grateful Adhesive shout out, "Thank you!"

* * *

Snivels continued his trek through the forest, the darkness of the night combined with the green glow in the sky giving the atmosphere an eerie feeling. Deciding it would be a good idea to distract himself from his despair by figuring out the mystery behind the Flightmare's behavior, the Servine asked himself, "Why does the Flightmare always take the same route to Berk?"

No-one answered him. Mainly because there was no one there to hear his question. Perhaps going for a walk all by himself wasn't the best idea, after all.

"It always followed the stream from the northern swamp into the village," Snivels continued. He pictured the map in his head, his eyes trailing the invisible line representing the river in question, following its path through the forest and toward Berk. "But why does it follow the water? What is it about that stream?"

As if on cue, he noticed a faint glow coming from between the trees. Not stopping to think about how lucky he was, Snivels rushed forward, stopping when he came to the river. It was glowing a bright blue, and when Snivels bent down to get a closer look at the water, he saw thousands, maybe even millions, or tiny luminescent particles drifting along the stream.

And that was when the Servine prince arrived at a simple epiphany.

"That's it! The Flightmare is following..."

* * *

"...the glowing algae."

The married couple of whom Adhesive was a huge fan of were currently suspended hundreds of feet in the air, staring down at the amazing phenomenon that was taking place down below. As Toothless gently glided across the swamp, Hiccup and Astrid could not take their eyes away from the mesmerizing trail of glowing blue water that snaked through the forest below them.

It was only when Toothless landed, and the couple slid off of his back to peer at the water more closely, did they fully realize that it wasn't the stream itself that was glowing after all.

"Look at this," Hiccup told Astrid, cupping his hands and scooping up a handful of liquid. Suspended in the water were tons of tiny little particles. "The glow must be some kind of reaction to Arvendil's Fire," Hiccup speculated about the algae. "This must be what the Flightmare is following. That's why it always takes the same route!"

"Not getting it," Astrid replied.

Somewhat excitedly, he asked her, "Ever try to get between Snotlout and a bowl of mutton?"

"That's something you only ever do once – even me," she admitted. Hey, Astrid Hofferson-Haddock might have been the best teenaged warrior on Berk, or any of the surrounding islands, but a starving Snotlout was a force to be reckoned with.

They heard a roar, and Hiccup shoved Astrid behind a rock. The Flightmare crawled nearer to the water, close enough so that it could dip its snout in. Its forked tongue flicked out and started lapping at the surface of the stream, allowing it to drink.

"Oh, now I get it!" Astrid said all of a sudden. "This is the Flightmare's food supply!"

"And that's the reason why it's so aggressive – because it saw us as a threat to its very survival," replied Hiccup, nodding.

He forgot to lower his voice, so the Flightmare heard him. It looked up, spotted the couple, and flew up above them, letting loose a territorial roar.

"Speaking of threats..." Astrid commented.

The Flightmare filled up the night sky with its trademark blue glow. And only seconds later, it started flying right toward them with a screech. Wary of what was about to come, Hiccup began to back away, making sure to keep the boulder between him and the dragon. "Come on," he told Astrid. "We need to get Toothless up in the air so we can hide."

"Yeah, I don't think that's gonna happen," Astrid replied, pointing at a nearby bend in the river.

Sure enough, there was Toothless, who was dipping his muzzle in the glowing water like the algae floating in it was the world's most delicious treat. When he had drank his fill, the Night Fury backed away and started to glow. All over his body, purple streaks of light were appearing, especially around his head and flanks. When he spread his wings, the undersides were shining just as brightly as the Flightmare.

"So much for 'virtually invisible in the dark'," Hiccup snarked, remembering what Snivels had said earlier that evening.

The Flightmare let out another shriek, louder this time.

Immediately, Hiccup and Astrid rushed toward the glowing Night Fury and hopped aboard the saddle. With the Flightmare already on its way to rend them, Toothless sprang into the air and headed for the open sky, his body carving a bright ribbon of light through the darkness.

The Flightmare didn't hesitate. It launched itself into the air, screeching out its anger and pumping its wings faster and faster to catch up to the fleeing Go-Getters. Hiccup saw the dragon's bright blue light from the corner of his eye, and he felt a prickle of fear go up his spine.

"It's right behind us!" he shouted, and he felt Astrid's arms constrict his waist.

"What do we do?" she asked. There was a tremor of fear in her voice now – perhaps the way the Flightmare paralyzed her had struck more deeply than Hiccup suspected.

But now, there was only one option left open to them. The Haddock boy pulled on the saddle and yelled, "Toothless, into the clouds!"

His dragon companion climbed higher and then wheeled in the sky, heading towards a cloud bank coming in from the north. Soon, the dampness of the clouds was enveloping them in a cooling mist, and total darkness descended upon them.

 _We can't even see Arvendil's Fire from inside here,_ he noticed. Only the purple glow coming from Toothless' body allowed him to see the clouds around them. _This will hide us from the Flightmare, if nothing else will._

"You think we lost it?" Astrid whispered to him.

Then, in front of them, blue light started to filter through the clouds, and then came the sound of beating wings.

"Nope!" shouted Hiccup.

Right as he said that, the Flightmare exploded through the clouds, its glow blinding the three intruders. Unable to see where he was going, Toothless ended up tumbling out of the sky and onto the ground. The force of the impact forced Hiccup and Astrid out of the saddle. The Flightmare flew down after them, opening its jaws to fire its mist at them.

"Toothless, roll!" Hiccup yelped.

Toothless obeyed, dodging the paralyzing mist just in the nick of time. The Night Fury then fired several plasma blasts, but the Flightmare avoided them. It was enough, however, to force the Flightmare to retreat.

And then a rock beaned it in the snout. Instantly, its head snapped in the direction from which the projectile had been thrown, eyes narrowing with outrage.

"Hey!" Astrid shouted tauntingly, hurling another stone at it. "Come fight me!"

Vaulting back into Toothless' saddle, Hiccup told his mount, "Get her out of there!"

They and the Flightmare lunged for Astrid at exactly the same time. Blue light pulsed from the Flightmare's wings, but Toothless was faster and snatched her up before the luminescent dragon could land the hit. Just like that, they were speeding into the air with the Flightmare pursuing them yet again.

Somehow, Astrid spotted something even in the total darkness of the midnight swamp. "Hiccup, look!"

He saw it, too – a gap in the mountainous barrier that bordered the swamp. On his rider's urging, Toothless folded his wings and knifed through the air like a fish through water, diving straight into the gap between the rocks.

Above, the Flightmare chirped and shrieked to itself as it looped this way and that across the sky, clearly searching for them in its own restless way. Soon, however, it had given up and was heading back towards the river.

When they were sure it had gone for good, Hiccup, Astrid, and Toothless walked out from their hiding place. That was when the unexpected happened – the purple luminescence that shone from inside Toothless' body and made him glow suddenly faded away, as quickly as it had appeared. Once more, they were virtually invisible in the night.

"At least the effects don't last long," Hiccup remarked with some relief, patting the Night Fury's smooth snout. "Back into the air, Toothless!"

The Flightmare was heading in the direction of the village, so they followed from a discrete distance. Based on how calmly it was flying, the dragon hadn't yet noticed them. Its one-track mind was now seemingly focused on the river below, allowing Toothless to stealthily pursue.

"How are we going to stop the Flightmare from reaching Berk?" asked Astrid, looking at her husband with slight worry.

Hiccup turned around as best he could while in the saddle, so that he could meet her eyes and answer. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, a bit of movement in the black sky behind them distracted him.

"Heather!" he exclaimed.

Confused, Astrid asked him, "How's she going to help?"

It wasn't Hiccup who answered her, however. "By bringing you reinforcements!" a very unexpected and familiar voice called out from the surrounding gloom.

And just like that, the shape that Hiccup had spotted behind them flew close enough for him and Astrid to tell what it was – none other than Heather and Brandyn mounted atop Windshear and Buck. A third shape appeared next to them, a little hard to see in the dim light, but its spiked tail and birdlike structure made it obvious that it was Stormfly.

Delighted to see them, Astrid cried out her dragon's name in greeting. "Stormfly! Good to see you, girl."

She promptly stood up on Toothless' back and jumped, only to be caught moments later by the ever-faithful and intelligent Deadly Nadder.

"What are you guys doing here?" Hiccup called, even as the two other trainers took the lead in their flight formation.

"Looking for you guys," Brandyn replied. "And Snivels, too. But so far, we haven't had much luck on the Grass Snake Pokémon."

As if on cue, a familiar scream pierced the air like a knife. Just seconds later, Hiccup spotted the moving form of his Servine friend running between the trees below them, the Flightmare hot on his heels.

"You've got this all wrong!" Snivels called back to his pursuer. "We're not the enemy, go after those Vikings! They're the ones who deserve to get their butts whupped!"

There was a sharp tug on the yellow frill that extended behind his shoulders, and he was lifted into the air. He shut his eyes, fearing the worst. "You can eat Stoick first, I'll be the dessert!"

"Sorry, but I'm not hungry."

Snivels's eyes snapped open, and he looked up to find Toothless giving him a gummy smile.

It was Hiccup who had spoken that sarcastic joke. "Happy birthday, by the way."

Snivels looked up at his trainer with cloudy eyes, almost crying. "You remembered?"

"Of course I did," Hiccup said with a smile. "You've been telling us about it all week!"

Okay, so maybe Snivels had forgotten that tiny little detail.

Toothless did a roll, throwing Snivels up into the air, then straightened out. The Servine plopped into the saddle behind his trainer just a short moment later.

"Guys, listen," Snivels said after he recovered from the shock of Toothless's move. "I was following the river, and I think I might have found a way to divert the Flightmare!"

Instead of explaining for Hiccup and the others, he stuck his leafy arm out and pointed off to the west. Over in that direction, the four trainers could easily see the edge of the island as it dropped into the ocean, and the vast glittering sea beyond that was illuminated by the light cast by the moon. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

And more importantly, it made Hiccup realize something, the exact thing that Snivels had pointed out to him.

He looked back down at the river, and took note of how it flowed. All of that water on a small island had to go somewhere, after all...

His voice little more than a murmur, Hiccup began, "We cut a new channel for the river..."

"And divert the flow of algae!" Astrid finished for him, sitting up straight as the realization hit her as well, filling her with excitement. "That river is the food source for the Flightmare! If we get the river to flow to the ocean, the Flightmare will leave!"

Grinning ecstatically now that he had a solid plan to act on, Hiccup called out to his friends, "Time to do a bit of emergency landscaping, guys!"

Their dragons swooped toward the river.

* * *

The Pokémon were all sitting miraculously quiet in the house, waiting patiently for the four trainers, and Snivels, to arrive. A select few of them, besides Adhesive and Amber, were holding on to the gifts they'd selected and wrapped up for their friend to open on his special day.

Kickin' Hawk was sitting on the largest box, which contained the most special, and possibly the most complicated, present for the Servine. Why was he sitting on it, you ask? Because the contents of the box liked to move around a lot, and he was trying to keep it still.

A party platter of malasadas and chocolate treats sat upon the table, waiting for the Servine to taste them and dissolve into a sugar-filled bliss. Amber had to shift between heating up and cooling off the treats in order to keep them nice and fresh.

"Shouldn't they have gotten back by now?" Ninjark asked as he twiddled his thumbs trying to keep himself occupied.

Blaze looked thoughtful. "Something must be wrong." She looked up at her friends, a look of determination etched on her face. "We need to go find them."

"I'm coming, too!" said a determined Adhesive.

There was a pregnant pause, and everyone in the room gave the Poipole a look of exasperation.

"Definitely for non-Hiccstrid reasons!" Adhesive insisted.

Satisfied, Blaze led him and Ninjark out the door, whistling for the dragons.

* * *

When the four trainers and one Servine finally caught up to the Flightmare in the far reaches of the swamp, ready to execute their master plan, Brandyn's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates at the sight of the luminescent dragon.

"A live Flightmare," he uttered in amazement. "It's...it's...!"

"It's MINE!" yelled Astrid.

Before Hiccup could even think of stopping her, she streaked ahead on Stormfly. The Flightmare reared back in the air and shrieked with surprise, not expecting her to come in so suddenly. She and Stormfly took advantage of this to pepper it with fireballs, driving it away from the other three trainers.

"Okay, guys," whispered Hiccup. "It's time to do what we came here for."

He, Snivels and the Night Fury dove toward the ghostly river, followed by Heather and Brandyn on their dragons. As best as he could in the darkness, Hiccup picked out a spot where he wanted to carve out the new channel, and ordered Toothless to fire. Plasma blasts shot from Toothless' mouth, exploding with blue light when they hit the ground.

The glowing river started to mark the newly-made trail, slithering like a serpent through the channel and making it visible. While Hiccup and Toothless flew further along to lengthen the stream, Windshear and Buck came in. The two dragons landed on opposite sides of the river and started pushing rocks and whatnot into the water where the old channel met the new one, blocking the flow of the stream.

Up above, Stormfly and the Flightmare were blasting away at each other. On Astrid's encouragement, Stormfly swiftly turned around and dove back toward the river, followed closely by the angry glowing dragon.

"Guys, it's coming your way!" Astrid shouted.

The Flightmare caught sight of Heather and Brandyn, and immediately decided they would be easier prey. It screeched as it plummeted, jaws opening as it prepared its paralyzing mist.

Snivels noticed it approaching just in the nick of time.

"Guys, look out!" shouted the Servine.

But he was too late - the river was only half-blocked with newly-made rock when the Flightmare plunged toward the group. It unleashed its mist at the two humans, only for Snivels to leap right into its line of fire. He was paralyzed in an instant.

Turning her head to where Toothless was blasting, Astrid yelled as hard as she could, "Hiccup! The Flightmare got Snivels!"

Hearing her, Hiccup turned around and headed back to where the Flightmare was. Never mind that he and Toothless had reached the ocean, and were only a couple of blasts away from completing the channel. His best friend needed him!

Windshear and Buck spewed fire at the Flightmare, driving it away with the intense heat and light. While the luminescent dragon cowered and hissed at its enemies, Toothless invisibly swooped in and snatched Snivels up.

There was a twitch of movement, and then Snivels shook himself all over as his muscles unfroze.

"Wh-Whoa...what just happened to me?" he muttered in shock.

"The Flightmare's mist," Hiccup explained from overhead. "It temporarily paralyzes you."

"Wow, that's kinda cool!" his Servine friend grinned up at him. "Any chance we can get some of that to use on those Vikings?"

Toothless landed near where the unfinished stream was and began blasting away, getting closer and closer to the ocean.

Meanwhile, Stormfly spat more fire at the Flightmare, who swooped away and managed to get behind her. Astrid turned her around to confront the enraged dragon, and poisonous spines went flying. The Flightmare dodged, then swatted Astrid right off of Stormfly's back with its.

Far from through, Astrid reached for her axe, only to see that the Flightmare was charging at her on foot. She turned and ran into the forest, leaping over rocks and tree roots even as her massive, glowing pursuer tore up everything in its way to try and get to her.

She shot a look over her shoulder, and her eyes widened when she saw that the Flightmare was gaining on her, faster than she had thought possible.

"Don't worry, Astrid!" a voice shouted. "Help has arrived!"

A series of soundwaves struck the Flightmare, making it collapse to the ground. The force of the wind flung Astrid away, but she recovered quickly and scanned the skies to find out who had saved her.

"Blaze?" Astrid murmured to herself, her eyes making out the form of her Blaziken and Heather's Greninja flying on Wavern and Verne, respectively.

"And friends!" Adhesive called as he zipped by, heading towards the unfinished stream to help Hiccup and Toothless.

They landed, Blaze patting the female Noivern on the head in thanks. Astrid pulled herself up of the ground. "You were right," she said, her voice heavy with the sound of guilt. "I'm sorry, I should have listened to you."

"Told you we make a great team!" the Blaziken exclaimed, holding out a hand for Astrid. Once she was secure atop Wavern's back, they took off with the Flightmare close behind.

They rounded a bend, and suddenly, there was glowing water in front of them, and a Night Fury blasting away.

"Look out, Hiccup!" shouted Astrid.

In response to her cry, the Night Fury was immediately airborne with a great flap of his wings. Stormfly heard as well and grabbed her from where she sat behind Blaze. With a flex of the Nadder's talons, she flung her rider into the air and then swooped down to catch her.

"Right then, we need to finish cutting that channel..." Hiccup muttered to the group.

He was about to say something else, but at that moment, the Flightmare launched itself into the air to attack them. They spread out and regrouped farther away, letting the Flightmare hover in place to get its bearings. Behind it, the familiar blue scrawl of the river shone like a beacon.

"But," the Haddock boy grimaced, "The Flightmare is between it and us."

"Hiccup, I think I have a plan to stop it," claimed Astrid, grinning from ear to ear. "The algae. Let's give that overgrown salamander a taste of his own medicine."

Realizing what his wife meant by that, Hiccup let his own grin spread across his face. He remembered how the Flightmare's glow had worked before, blinding him and Astrid so that they were temporarily helpless. He knew that its own ability could go against it as well. Her idea could just work, as long as they all worked effectively as a team.

"Lead the way!" he offered, gesturing at the river.

Astrid and Stormfly were the first to go down. The Deadly Nadder angled her wings so that she dove down at an angle toward the luminous river that wove like a ghostly snake through the darkness of the midnight forest. Hiccup, Snivels and Toothless, followed by Heather and Brandyn and then Blaze and Ninjark on their mounts, flew downwards toward the river right after her. The Flightmare, some distance behind them, chased after them indiscriminately, not caring where they went as long as it could catch and shred them afterwards.

"Time for a little midnight snack!" Astrid called, letting Stormfly get a good long mouthful of water and algae before pulling back up into the sky.

"Chow down, guys!" added Hiccup. He braced himself when Toothless' snout hit the water, sending up a spray that speckled the Haddock boy's coat and tunic with dark spots. As soon as Toothless had gotten enough to drink, he pulled on the saddle and followed Astrid.

Soon, a squad of four glowing dragons soared through the night, their colors blending in surprisingly well when matched with the undulating waves of beauty currently pulsing through the sky. Toothless was the same purple as he had been when he first ate the Flightmare Algae (as Hiccup was now thinking of calling it), Stormfly was shining a radiant yellow, Buck was a vivid emerald, and Windshear was a garish shade of pink bordering on magenta.

Verne and Wavern stayed completely the same. Apparently, the Flightmare Algae didn't have the same effect on Pokémon.

Astrid cast her eyes around at her fellow Go-Getters, feeling satisfied at the amount of glow that each dragon was emitting from every inch of their bodies. She had never felt so ready to take down the Flightmare – not even when she had been training in the arena earlier that day, before she had even seen it and its abilities with her own eyes.

"It's time to see who the real coward is!" the wife of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, niece of the great Fearless Finn Hofferson, cried defiantly. "We're coming for you, Flightmare!"

And together, the six of them turned around and charged straight at the luminescent dragon.

At first, it wasn't even aware they were coming at it. But then it turned around, and Team Go-Getters took that as their cue to suddenly tighten their formation. Each dragon's glow, now that they were all in close proximity, reflected off of the other dragons and enhanced its brightness. The combined result was what looked like a star come down to earth, something that the Flightmare couldn't bear to look at.

It fled, only for Stormfly to swoop in and block its way. Startled by the light, the Flightmare turned and flew in the other direction, only to meet up with a glowing Buck. Heather and Windshear were next to head it off, forcing it to flee towards Hiccup.

He patted Toothless's head as soon as the Flightmare came toward him. Toothless readied a plasma blast, the purple glow in his maw seemingly tripling in intensity. It was so bright that even Hiccup couldn't look directly at it.

The Flightmare, blinded, spiraled down to the ground.

"It's going down!" cried Snivels.

Finally, it hit the dirt with an impact hard enough to stun it into submission. Other than a low hiss, it didn't make any sound.

With nothing more to worry about, Hiccup turned around and pointed back to the river. "Toothless, let's finish that channel."

They dove down, flying low to the water so that a spray was churned up from the speed of their passing. As they neared the end of the glowing channel, Toothless spat out one last burst of plasma to blow the rest of the rock and earth out of the way. Now that there was nothing to keep it from flowing, the water and Flightmare Algae was allowed to spill out over the cliff and into the ocean.

A shrill cry came from up above. As Hiccup watched, the Flightmare flew overhead and out to sea, following the glowing algae as it formed a trail out toward the distant horizon. In moments, it was gone, disguised against the greenish lights of Arvendil's Fire.

The rest of Team Go-Getters soon joined him to watch their enemy go. "We did it!" exclaimed Astrid.

"Now let's get home before everyone falls asleep," Ninjark sighed with relief.

"Not yet," Hiccup said suddenly. "There's still something we have to do first." He looked over his shoulder to give Snivels an apologetic look. "And you're probably not going to like it."

* * *

Stoick the Vast trudged uneasily through the village, listening hard for the telltale shriek of the coming Flightmare. It should've been here by now, and the dead silence that pervaded all of Berk was putting him increasingly on edge. Not that he'd ever admit it.

Suddenly, against the pure green of Arvendil's Fire, there abruptly appeared an even brighter point of light.

That was it! It was time!

"Gobber!" the Chief bellowed, racing toward the forge.

The blacksmith was currently snoozing deeply on a chair outside his smithy, smacking his lips and muttering in his sleep. "Oh, that yak butter melts in my –"

"Wake up!" Stoick roared. He grabbed his friend's shoulder and forcibly shook him awake.

"MOMMY!" yelped Gobber, jumping to his feet and glancing around. Struck by confusion at his surroundings, he scratched his head and asked, "Stoick, is that you? I was having this dream. You and I were –"

"Not now," Stoick cut him off with a slash of his hand. "Sound the alarm, the Flightmare is here."

The two of them instinctively looked back up at the sky when the horrible scourge's name was mentioned. Indeed, there was the speck of bright blue light drawing closer and closer to the village...only now it looked like it was separating into...

Gasping in horror, Stoick shouted, "Odin's ghost, Gobber! There's more than one of them!"

But Gobber didn't share his sentiments. Rather, he seemed to be more bewildered than ready for action.

"Gobber?" asked Stoick.

"Uh, those aren't Flightmares, Chief," he replied, pointing with his hook arm.

Reacting with surprise to Gobber's words, Stoick turned back to the sky and squinted as hard as he could. Actually, now that they were getting closer, he saw that the four points of light were all different colors...and they looked a little familiar, now that he thought about it...

Needless to say, both Stoick and Gobber were pretty much speechless when Hiccup, Astrid, Heather, and Brandyn all dropped down to the ground directly in front of them on their dragons, all of which were shining almost as brightly as the sun, except in a wide range of unusual colors. Neither of them could recall seeing a glow quite like that in the last ten years.

"Hiccup...slap me in the face," said Gobber, sounding somewhat dazed. "Your dragons are glowing. I must still be dreaming..."

Chuckling, Hiccup shook his head and got off of Toothless' saddle. "Gobber, you're wide awake," he corrected the blacksmith with a laugh. "They are glowing – long story. The good news is, we drove the Flightmare away!"

Those words were music to Stoick's ears. "You did?" he asked hopefully.

With a joyous grin, Hiccup nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh, well done, son!" the Chief praised, delightedly wrapping his boy up in a bear hug. "Well done!" He then turned and called out, "Everyone, you can come outta your homes! The Flightmare is gone for good!"

His yell reached the ears of all the Vikings in Berk, and one after the other, they all opened their doors and stuck their heads outside. Although hesitant at first, glancing at the sky just to make sure there was no glowing incarnation of death coming at them from above, they quickly got over their fears and walked out into the plaza to crowd around the four trainers. From what Hiccup could see, the villagers seemed particularly fascinated by their dragons, who looked like part of Arvendil's Fire that had fallen to the ground.

Snivels characteristically kept his distance from all the Vikings. Hiccup had been right, he did not like this very much.

Waving his arms above his head, Hiccup called for the villagers' collective attention. "Uh, uh, Vikings of Berk? I-I've got an announcement to make," he called out, drawing everyone's eyes toward him. "We learned a lot about the Flightmare tonight, and we'll explain it all later. But the most important thing we learned was that Fearless Finn Hofferson was, indeed, fearless."

Murmurs passed through the crowd. They could scarcely believe it. The legendary dragon killer, Finn Hofferson, wasn't a coward like they had been told?

Astrid in particular was stunned by Hiccup's proclamation, although it was a good kind of stunned. She stared at him as if she had been paralyzed again, but there was a smile on her face.

He turned right towards her and beamed. "...Just like all the Hoffersons," he finished just for her.

There was much whooping and hollering from the listening Vikings as they cheered on the young heroes that had spared them from the wrath of the Flightmare and disproved the rumors concerning the Hofferson man, who had been a much-loved part of their community. And now, with the Flightmare having been chased away for good, they had a new Hofferson worthy of the 'fearless' title.

Well, she wasn't really a Hofferson anymore. And it was fortunate that nobody in the Viking village of Berk knew of that fact.

A strong arm wrapped itself around her shoulders. It was Gobber, who told her happily, "Sounds like you did your uncle proud, lass."

While Astrid said nothing, the way she trembled with happiness and pride spoke volumes. She subtly reached out and grabbed Hiccup's hand, allowing him to feel it, too. The two teens looked into each other's eyes and smiled.

"Now, for the first time in many, many years, we can just sit back and enjoy Arvendil's Fire," Stoick sighed in relief, tilting his head back to admire the pulsing banners of color that slithered across the sky.

"And we finally get to go home," Blaze said with a smile.

Snivels noticed the look on her face, a smile of his own creeping its way across his face. He was sure he had a pretty good idea what was awaiting him back home.

* * *

"Surprise!"

Snivels heart leaped with joy as he opened the door to find all his friends greeting him with smiles. So, they did remember his birthday after all.

Then again, he had been telling them about it the whole week, like Hiccup said.

The treats were delicious, the chocolate melting on Snivels's tongue and the malasadas providing an explosion of taste. Perhaps it was his imagination, but they seemed to taste so much sweeter than all the treats he'd eaten before.

The presents came next. Amber had gotten him a Rainbow Wing charm made from a feather she'd obtained from Ho-Oh during their stay at the Ice Caves. His present from Hiccup was a set of different writing utensils for him to use for whenever he added new information to the Book of Dragons. Blaze's present turned out to be a bunch of berries that, when consumed, increased a Pokémon's endurance when and if it was hit with an attack that super effective against their type. Heather, Ninjark and Brandyn had all pitched in on one present, a green bangle that looked almost exactly like the Snake Miraculous, but without the accompaniment of a kwami.

Adhesive's present came next. "Since I only lent you my Wings of Fire collection for you to read, I thought I'd help you start your own," he said as he handed the Servine the gift he got him.

Snivels took the gift and tore the wrapping off of it. His eyes lit up in amazement at what the Poipole had got him. "The Dragonet Prophecy book and graphic novel?"

Adhesive smiled and nodded.

Snivels smiled back at his friend. "Thanks, Ad."

Finally, they'd gotten to the last present. Kickin' Hawk and Buddy gently pushed the gift-wrapped box toward the Servine, being careful not to jar it too much.

"This one is from all of our friends at the Resistance," said the Silvally. "They sent it to us a few days ago."

Kickin' Hawk patted the box, a smile on his face. "Since your birthday this year has that light show in the sky, Fjord knew this gift would make it even more special."

Intrigued, Snivels carefully tore off the wrapping, the box jerking a little as the contents squirmed. He could tell it was a dragonet, but when he opened the box and saw exactly what kind it was, he froze and gasped out in surprise.

"Oh, my Arceus."

Shaking a little, Snivels reached into the box and lifted out his present. The familiar glow of luminescent blue filled the eyes of all the Go-Getters.

A baby Flightmare.

Everyone in the room clambered over each other to get a good look at the dragonet. Several voices spoke up at once, a mixture of surprise at what they were seeing and admiration at how adorable it was.

Finally, one voice spoke above all the rest.

"What's her name, Snivels?" asked Buddy.

Snivels took a moment to think. He spotted Astrid among his friends, her eyes locked on the dragonet. There was no fear in her expression, only amazement. She hadn't gotten Snivels a present, she'd forgotten all about it thanks to her own little dilemma.

Okay, scratch that. She did get him a present. Thanks to her, Snivels knew exactly what he was going to call the baby Flightmare.

"Fearless," he said, smiling at Astrid before turning to look at the dragonet. "Her name is Fearless."

Astrid knew full well where the Servine had gotten the idea for that name, and she'd never felt more honored in her life. She never would have imagined that the dragonet version of her greatest enemy would have been named after her and her family.

Well, the Hofferson part of her family, anyway.

Snivels cuddled baby Fearless, who crooned at the feeling of his warmth. "Hands down, this is the best birthday ever!"

As the growing chatter spread through the house as the birthday party continued, Hiccup wandered outside to get some air. He found the perfect spot out on the bluff to sit down and marvel at the dazzling display that filled the sky.

He'd only ever seen one other instance of Arvendil's Fire before, and he couldn't take the time to appreciate it back then. Now, though, he could drink it in and admire its glory.

The sound of footsteps reached his ears, and he turned his head in time to see Astrid sitting down next to him. She gave him a smile that was almost as brilliant as the aurora above.

"Hiccup, thanks," she said sincerely. "What you did for me means a lot."

Bashfully, Hiccup replied, "Ah, well, I was only trying to –"

Her lips closed on his before he could finish, tugging him into a warm, passionate embrace that he never wanted to end. When she released him, he got a good close-up of her beautiful eyes and lovely blushing cheeks illuminated by the soft green of Arvendil's Fire...

"Astrid," he spoke with some hesitation. "I know how much restoring your family honor meant to you, and I'm sorry if I ever held you back. I may have proposed a little too soon, or we could have waited a little longer to get married, but you've always been a part of my family. I just wanted to remind you that I'm a part of yours as well."

He paused, his voice was beginning to waver. But he wasn't going to let that stop him from saying all that needed to be said.

"You've always been the strongest and most fearless person I've ever known. I couldn't top that even if I wanted to. I don't want to be the kind of person who's always holding you back, stopping you from doing all that you want to accomplish. Whatever you want, whoever you choose to be, just remember that we'll always be here for you."

Another pause, then he added wholeheartedly, "I'll always be here for you."

Astrid's answer was immediate, and unexpected. She practically threw herself at him, her arms wrapped around him in a tight embrace. Stunned, Hiccup reciprocated.

"I made a choice the day you proposed to me," Astrid said into her husband's ear. "You and I both know it was the right one." She pulled away just enough to meet his eyes. "You've made mistakes Hiccup, but don't you ever think that marrying me was one of them." She clasped both his hands in her own. "You've always been a part of my family, and I was stupid to have forgotten that today. I love you, Hiccup. I meant it the first time, and I mean it now."

Just like that, all of the anxiety and doubt Hiccup had felt since that morning faded away. He'd given Astrid the freedom to choose how her own life would turn out, and she had chosen a life with him. Struggling to keep all his emotions in check, he reached his hand up and cupped her cheek tenderly. "I...I love you, too, Astrid." Then, almost without realizing what he was doing, he leaned in and kissed her.

Despite her being rather surprised that Hiccup had been bold enough to initiate this display of affection, it didn't take long for Astrid to respond in kind. After these past twenty-four hours of stress, high emotion, anxiety, shock and surprise, it was safe to say that their love for one another was only strengthened.

Not too far away, Adhesive was hiding in the shadows, having been using the camera on his phone to record the entire moment on video. "This is gonna get so many hits on YouTube!"

* * *

 _Honor can be given, or it can be taken away. It can happen righteously, or it can be because of a misunderstanding – like back when everyone thought I was a dragon-killing prodigy._

 _In Astrid's case, though, she'd had her honor restored ever since the day she found her real family - Team Go-Getters._

* * *

 **Both parts of Fright of Passage up on Valentine's Day! I knew it could be done!**

 **I don't know about all of you, but I absolutely loved writing this! What's better than Hiccstrid on Valentine's Day?**

 **Reviews will be very much appreciated.**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: The Alolan Altercation

 **Another original of mine.**

 **Altercation (n) - a noisy argument or disagreement, especially in public.**

 **Dimension Zero - the term used for the timeline that is best known as the real world.**

 **Leapling (n) - Someone born on a leap day, the 29th of February.**

 **Real-life problem that is addressed: Racism**

* * *

 _Nature is all about difference – it shows on the outside, but deep down, everyone and everything is the same._

 _But sometimes, there are creatures that take differences too far._

 _And not all of them are Vikings._

* * *

The afternoon sun was just starting the downward half of its daily journey across the northern sky when a sky-shattering screech rang out across the ocean, and a sleek, black figure streaked by.

Out here, there was nowhere to run or hide. But luckily, the large mass of dragons following the black streak had no intention of eating him.

Yep, it was just another field trip for Team Go-Getters.

"Tell me again," said Astrid, her hair flying in the wind. "Why are we all heading back to the Ice Caves when we only just got back to Berk from there?"

Hiccup looked over his shoulder and gazed at his wife sympathetically. "With our team growing in numbers, we're going to need to settle somewhere that has more space. Who better to help us with that than Fjord?"

Okay, he was definitely right about that. But that didn't mean Astrid was looking forward to it.

 _"Spend your honeymoon at the Ice Caves,_ _" they said. "It'll be an adventure," they said._

The sound of Adhesive chuckling at a video he was watching on his phone raised her level of annoyance up to eleven. She was about to give him another one of those this-is-serious-so-stop-fooling-around lectures when Blaze stepped in. Figuratively, of course, since she was flying on the back of Wavern and had no intention of falling off.

"Would you stop goofing off, already? The situation around here is getting very serious, and we don't have time to deal with your little stunts!"

Adhesive gave the Blaziken a proud smile. "Not so little anymore," he said, holding up his phone. "Last week, my video scored 176 billion hits across the entire Multiverse! Except for Dimension Zero, of course. Any form of entry into that world is strictly forbidden!"

"You know," said Snivels, "This is one of those times where I wish I knew what you were talking about."

He wasn't the only one. It was hard for anyone on the team to have a proper conversation with Adhesive. Just when you'd think you'd gotten a hold on what he's talking about, the Poipole goes and pulls the rug out from under your feet with a reference to something you'd never even heard of before.

From his position at the front, Hiccup sighed. He had a feeling this was how the rest of the flight to the Ice Caves was going to go.

Fortunately, they'd already gone a great distance, and judging by the strong chills in the wind that kept getting colder and colder as they pressed on, they were almost there.

A minute later, the entrance to the familiar formation of frosty caverns came into view.

"Any chance we could stop and get some hot beverages while we're there?" asked a cautiously optimistic Brandyn.

Heather wasn't sure if he was saying that because of how cold it was, or if he was looking for an excuse to be alone with her, but the look on Adhesive's face told her that he hoped it was the latter. And if she was being honest with herself, she was also kinda hoping that, too.

Hiccup and Toothless had barely touched down at the entrance to the cave when they found themselves face-to-face with a certain Kyurem.

"Greetings, Team Go-Getters. I've been expecting you."

Hiccup felt himself jump a little in the saddle. _How did he know we were coming?_ he thought to himself. _Oh, yeah, foresight powers._

Fjord stepped to the side to allow more room for the group to head into the tunnel. "Please, come in. I'm sure we've a lot to discuss."

Other than Brandyn stopping to get himself and Heather a couple cups of hot chocolate, the entire team headed straight for the meeting room at the heart of the caverns.

While everyone was getting seated at the meeting table, Snivels went to speak with Fjord. "Before things get too serious, I wanted to personally thank you for the birthday gift you sent me." He gestured to Fearless, who had wrapped herself around the Servine's neck like a glowing feather boa. The Flightmare dragonet crooned as she nuzzled her caretaker.

"You're welcome," Fjord said, smiling. "I didn't need my foresight to tell me you'd love her."

"How does that power work, anyway?" Snivels asked suddenly. When Fjord gave him a look of mild surprise, he quickly added, "Just curious."

Fjord chuckled. "Funny thing about my species. While we normally have the power to control ice, and fuse with other Pokémon like Zekrom and Reshiram, there's also the chance we're born with the power of foresight. It's rare, but it can be inherited genetically. I believe my great-grandfather also had the power of foresight."

"So any children you have may also have that power," Snivels reasoned out. "Just like how any offspring I have might have dominant animus genes, or dominant Shiny genes."

"Or both," Fjord added. "Like one of our branch chiefs has."

Hiccup visibly flinched at the word "chief." Still had to deal with his father's expectations.

Fjord noticed and gave the young hero a sympathetic smile. "Branch chiefs aren't the same as real chiefs. To put it plainly, they're in charge of an extension of an organization, or branch, if you will. Like how Kuro is in charge of the Ultra Guardians."

 _Yeah, okay, that really helps._

No-one else spoke as Fjord switched back to his "serious mode," as Adhesive put it. "Our Shiny animus branch chief has been having trouble dealing with his assigned branch. The Pokémon he works with consist of the same species, but they're of different types and are constantly arguing about who's better than who. We're thinking that perhaps he could use the assistance of Team Go-Getters." He tapped an area on the map that had been placed on the table with his claw. "It's quite a ways from Berk, but it's a short flight from the Ice Caves. Once you get there, ask to speak to the branch chief, he responds to the name of Axel."

"Are there any branch chiefs for the Resistance that aren't Pokémon?" Hiccup commented in wonder, though there was a hint of amusement in his voice.

"One, other than you," was Fjord's reply. "Though it'll be a while before you finally cross paths with her."

Brandyn, Kickin' Hawk, Buddy and Adhesive were the only ones who were able to understand the implications of Fjord's answer.

* * *

A short flight it was. But that didn't mean the team couldn't take the time to entertain themselves.

Snivels, Verne, Blaze, Wavern, Ninjark, Kickin' Hawk, Ra, Camazotz, and Adhesive were the only Pokémon attending the mission. All the others were at the Ice Caves conversing with Fjord over their situation regarding the diminishing elbow room back home.

Anyway, the Pokémon were attempting to entertain themselves with a simple game.

"Dragon," Blaze uttered.

Adhesive shook his head. "You said that already."

"Rock?" Ninjark tried.

Again, Adhesive shook his head. "Nope."

"Hiccstrid," Snivels guessed, small hints of a smug grin lifting the corners of his mouth.

Adhesive was not amused. "It's got to be something I can actually see. Otherwise, it wouldn't be called I Spy, it would be called I Can Randomly Think Of Something."

It was around that time when Hiccup noticed a bit of land on the horizon. "That must be it," he muttered to himself.

Indeed it was. And the Pokémon there were causing complete and utter chaos. The first thing Hiccup noticed as he directed Toothless into a landing position was that the Pokémon fighting were the same species, but they looked quite different from each other. A Raticate that was tawny and fast like the ones found on Berk was tangling with a chubbier version of itself that had black fur. A golden-white Nintales was spewing fire while its opponent, who was a pale blue and looked way prettier, breathed frosty breath. And while it was not an odd sight to see two Marowak duking it out on each other, usually both of them were brown.

Standing way off to the side, to avoid all the fighting, was a large black Pokémon with huge scythe-like tusks and piercing red eyes. It took Hiccup a minute to realize it was a Haxorus, for he had never seen one colored black before.

"Excuse me!" the one-legged hero called, jumping down from the saddle. "We need to speak to someone named Axel!"

The black Haxorus gave him a sad-looking smile. "You're looking at him, kid."

Even Snivels was surprised. "You're Axel? The Shiny animus branch chief for the Resistance?"

"Yes, I am," confirmed Axel. Then, as a demonstration, he snapped his fingers, and a nearby boulder suddenly lifted up off the ground as though it was being picked up by an invisible force. Axel snapped his fingers again, and the huge rock gently settled back down in the spot where it had been sitting.

"Just when you think you've seen it all," Heather muttered under her breath.

Astrid just stared at the black Haxorus, her expression stating that she wasn't all that impressed. "I expected a bit more when they said he was a Shiny animus."

The next thing she knew, Axel was right up in her face with a look that could kill. "You watch your mouth, little lady. I know a spell that can make your tongue vanish into thin air, and I'm pretty sure you don't want that."

Normally, this was where Astrid would talk back and intimidate, but this time she came up empty. For a minute, she was afraid that Axel really had made her tongue disappear.

Blaze chuckled to herself. "I haven't seen anyone talk to Astrid like that besides her parents and Stoick."

Astrid tried to make a simple remark, but again she was too stunned speechless.

"You asked for us to come here," Brandyn said, trying to get the group back on track.

Axel looked at the Aetherson boy and nodded. "I did. As you can plainly see, my trainees aren't as cooperative as I was hoping they'd be." He gazed at the fighting Pokémon with a sad, doubtful look. "Some of the species that live on other islands in different locations have changed and grown to be better adapted to their environments. The Sandshrew, Vulpix and evolutions that live in the northern islands are Ice-types so that they are more resistant to the cold temperatures. It can easily get below freezing up there, after all."

"And those guys are all fighting with each other because...?" Ninjark prompted.

At Axel's sides, his claws curled tightly into fists, but he didn't make any movement aside from that.

"I'm sure Fjord has informed you by now," said the Shiny Haxorus. "They're all caught up in a classic argument of who's better than who. The Kantonians, if you will, have never seen anything like the Alolans, and the Alolans have never seen anything like the Kantonians. Neither of them are sure which version came first, so now they've engaged in this foolishness befitting for a tribe of Vikings."

A look of disgust on his face, Snivels grumbled, "Tell me about it."

"How long have they been going at each other?" Blaze asked, genuine concern in her eyes. Just because she was a strong battler didn't mean she was a fan of fighting. In fact, she usually did her best to avoid a fight, if she could. Nothing like Astrid had been before that fateful flight on Toothless.

Axel shook his head, his eyes downcast. "Far too long."

"Then we need to sort this out now," Hiccup decided.

Astrid gained enough of her voice back to say, "Tell me you're not just going to waltz out there and hope for the best."

Hiccup looked back at her with a concerned look on his face. "We can't just stand back and watch," he said. He started forward, but a black, clawed hand clutched the back of his shirt, stopping him in his tracks.

"Hold your dragons there, Leapling," said Axel, "Little Miss Sassy Mouth has a point. I couldn't get their attention with anything, and I doubt you'll have any more luck than I did."

Adhesive didn't look so sure about that. "No offense, but they're, I mean, we're kinda famous throughout these islands, so there's a good chance they'll listen to us."

Axel hesitated, then raised a claw to point at the two Persian that were engaged in a literal catfight. "The tan one is Percy, and the grey one is Felicity. They each consider themselves to be the leader of their respective groups. If you want to speak to any of the other Pokémon, you'll have to go through them first."

Given how the two Classy Cat Pokémon were one step away from going at each other's throats, that was definitely not going to be an easy task.

Hiccup wasn't the only one who was thinking that.

"That certainly won't be easy," Kickin' Hawk said, his eyes locked on the two Persian. "Especially when there's a chance Dark Matter might have something to do with all this."

 _I hadn't thought of that,_ the bigwings of Team Go-Getters admitted to himself. Perhaps Dark Matter was doing something to make those Pokémon fight. It had mind-controlled Sarabeth up until Snivels hit her in the head with his Leaf Blade, and it had tried to get control of him not too long ago, so it was definitely possible.

Hiccup was at a complete loss for ideas. "Okay, so, what are we going to do?"

* * *

Being a mother was not always easy. Ebony was learning that the hard way.

" _Daddy! Daddy!_ " squealed her dragonets. " _Wanna go with Daddy!_ "

Ebony shook her head. " _My little s_ _weetstars, Daddy is working. He'll be right back, I promise._ "

" _Tell story_ " Starflight requested. " _Daddy being hero! Tell story!_ "

" _Alright, baby,_ " Ebony sighed, sitting down. " _What story do you want to hear this time?_ "

Immediately, the dragonets all jumped in with their favorite requests.

" _Evil queen!_ "

" _Snowy time!_ "

" _Old cranky!_ "

" _Big bad man!_ "

" _Hooded meanie!_ "

Ebony spread her wings to silence them. " _One at a time, please._ " She then spoke to the first dragonet that caught her eye. " _Alba, which story do you want to hear?_ "

Obsidian moaned, " _How come she get to go first?_ "

" _Because she doesn't complain when it's not her turn,_ " Ebony said sternly. She then asked more gently, " _Alba, sweetie, which story would you like Mommy to tell?_ "

Alba averted her mother's big green eyes, shy and silent as ever. " _I want...I want..._ " It took her a few tries to say what she wanted. " _I want Daddy to tell story this time._ "

And there they went right back to square one. " _Sweetstar, you're gonna have to wait for Daddy to get back, he's busy right now._ "

But the dragonets had a trick to get what it was they wanted. They'd all look their mother, or father, in the eye and dilate their pupils as wide as they would go while giving them the saddest look they could. Hiccup appropriately called this "the Sad Eyes Trick."

Ebony did her best to avoid the gaze of her children. She'd fallen for this trick too many times before, and she had no intention of letting that happen again. " _Don't look at me like that, sweetstars, you know you have to be patient. Daddy will be back before you know_ it."

The dragonet were not budging up even a little bit. They just continued to give their mother the Sad Eyes Trick.

Ebony could tell that she was starting to cave in. It was hard for even the most stern and disciplined mothers in the Multiverse to say "no" to such adorable little faces.

Seeing their mother falter a little, the dragonets bunched up closer together to increase the intensity of their cuteness. And increase, it did. Such big, adorable eyes and little dragonet faces in such close proximity to each other would made a stone-cold heart melt into goo, and then some.

Finally, Ebony gave up. " _Fine, I'll take you to Daddy._ "

Immediately, the dragonets all dropped the cute-as-all-heck act and started jumping up and down in excitement.

" _YAY!_ "

" _But,_ " Ebony added sternly, " _We're coming right back here when we're done!_ "

Now it was Eclipse's turn to groan. " _But Mommy!_ "

" _No buts,_ " said their mother. " _I already told you, Daddy has to work, so we'll make it quick and fly right back to these caves, understand?_ "

The dragonets all nodded collectively.

Ebony couldn't ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach as she led her children to the cave mouth.

 _What are the consequences of what I've just done?_

* * *

Although he was quite determined to stop the Pokémon fighting, Hiccup had little to no idea on how to do that. He was sitting on the edge of a cliff overlooking the island, the fighting had stopped for now, as the Pokémon had all gone to lick their wounds, most likely. That left an opening where he could think over the situation and decide the best possible course of action.

He had a plan, of course. It was a simple one – show the Pokémon that they aren't so different after all, that there is no "cut above the rest," and all creatures need to be treated equally, no matter how they look or act.

Hopefully.

It had been a long day. Tomorrow was shaping up to be the same – he'd have to face two Persian, a type of Pokémon that was very fickle and temperamental, and get them to listen to reason about the whole situation.

Footsteps sounded just then, coming up from behind him. It turned out to be Astrid.

"Hey," the former Hofferson greeted him, waving.

"Oh, hi Astrid," he replied, scooting over so she could sit next to him. "Something the matter?"

She sat down, looking slightly uncomfortable. She grabbed her arm self-consciously and refused to meet his eyes for a minute, as if she was internally struggling with something. Hiccup stared at her, confused and worried about her strange insecurity.

"N-No, not really, just...wanted to apologize," she finally sighed, and looked up so that they could see eye-to-eye. "Ever since that encounter we had with the Flightmare, I've realized that I...I wouldn't be where I am without you. And I'm sorry for how I acted, not just on that night, but...every day before then."

He smiled. Was that really what this was all about?

"It's fine, Astrid," he told her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Really."

She seemed doubtful, but smiled at him anyway. "Okay, if you're sure..." she conceded, but then frowned again. "But there's something else I need to talk to you about. I'm worried about our parents."

Cocking his head, Hiccup asked, "How so?"

The blonde seemed to consider how she was going to word her next statement. "Well..." she started, "We got married at the Ice Caves because we didn't want to attract too much attention from everyone in the village, and our parents think we're just together as boyfriend and girlfriend, so –"

He held up a hand before she could clarify further. "Yeah, I know, I get it. I mean, it's nice that we have more time to ourselves, but you're right, we can't hide this from our parents forever."

"If I'm honest, I hope we're lucky enough that our parents never find out," Astrid shrugged. "I mean, there's a chance they might have us get married again, and this time in the way Vikings do!"

Hiccup shuddered. Yes, he recalled, the Viking way involved the newlyweds "putting on a show," so to speak, to ensure that any future offspring that came along were indeed those of the chief, or the chief's son in some cases.

"For that, I'm glad we didn't get married on Berk," he nodded to her. Then, in an attempt to lighten the mood a little, he added, "I'd never hear the end of it for the rest of my natural life."

She laughed a little, in a rather un-Astrid fashion. "Yeah, me neither."

Before he could reply, she touched his cheek and leaned in to give him a long kiss on the lips. When she pulled away, he was almost too shocked to say anything. But he did manage to utter, "You know, I think this is the first time we've gotten through a conversation without you punching me."

Smiling devilishly, Astrid raised a fist. "Do you want me to?"

Hiccup couldn't tell if she was teasing or being serious. And he didn't get the chance to answer before a Night Fury's shriek rang through the evening sky.

"That's Toothless!" Hiccup shouted, leaping to his feet (foot and a half) and taking off running in the direction of the dragon's roar.

* * *

A certain father Night Fury was struggling to free himself from the large block of ice the Alolan Ninetales had trapped him and Ebony in. He was practically wiggling with everything he had as he watched the Alolan Marowak carry a confused and scared Alba away from her parents and siblings. The little Night Fury dragonets were frantically running in circles around their parents and their ice block prison.

Snivels didn't get the chance to do anything, as he quickly found himself up to his waist in Alolan Dugtrio's Sand Tomb, which was working like quicksand. The same happened to Blaze, Ninjark, Kickin' Hawk, Heather and Brandyn when they also arrived. Adhesive was easily able to avoid it, but ended up completely paralyzed by Alolan Raichu's Thunder Wave.

Stormfly, Verne and Wavern started forward to try and help, only to suddenly be buried under a large pile of rocks from the Alolan Golem's Rock Slide.

Windshear and Buck also tried to help, but the Psychic attack of the long-necked Alolan Exeggutor kept them from moving even an inch.

Alba wriggled around until she maneuvered herself into a position where she was looking over the Alolan Marowak's shoulder. Her pretty blue eyes found her parents half-frozen in a block of ice, and she called out to them desperately. " _Mommy! Daddy! HELP!_ "

The situation did not look good when Hiccup arrived. "What's going on?" His eyes widened at the sight of his dragon partially encased in ice. "Toothless!"

The Night Fury struggled more at the sound of his friend's voice. He fired a plasma blast at his frosty prison, the resulting explosion sending dirt and ice bits flying into his and Ebony's eyes, blinding them.

About to rush forward to help, Hiccup found himself taking steps backwards when he noticed Felicity stalking nearby, her eyes glaring holes into his skull. The Alolan Persian was not going to let anyone interfere with their objective. They'd all seen, plain as day, that there was a white dragonet with the pitch-black Night Furies, and they were so intent on their resolve to keep creatures that looked different away from each other that they were taking poor Alba away from the only parents she ever had.

When Hiccup saw Alba, he felt a pang of concern. The white dragonet was really devastated as she watched the image of her parents get smaller and smaller. If dragons could cry, she'd most likely be wailing like the poor little baby she was.

Snivels strained to pull himself up out of the Sand Tomb. "Leave her alone!"

"You're scaring her!" Brandyn shouted as loud as he could.

Heather joined in the protests. "You can't take her away!"

They all had reason to protest, not just for Alba's sake, but for Toothless and Ebony's sake as well. Alba might not have looked like their other children, but she was still their daughter, and they needed her as much as she needed them.

" _She doesn't belong with them,_ " Felicity snarled. " _She's not a Night Fury, and if she's not a Night Fury, she can't be with them! That's the way things are, the way things have always been and always will be!_ "

"You're wrong!" Snivels yelled, his eyes twitching with unmeasurable anger. "Look at us! We're not the same species, and we all stick together no matter what! Why can't you guys all just get along with one another?!"

" _Certainly,_ " said Felicity, " _As soon as those savages admit that our types are better than theirs!_ "

"There is no best type!" Blaze shouted back.

"All Pokémon are the same!" cried Ninjark.

Kickin' Hawk made no effort to protest. "It's no use," he said, mostly to himself. "Persian are too haughty and disdainful. We won't get her or Percy to listen this way."

And he was right, as Felicity had no intention of letting anyone get by to stop the Alolan Marowak from carrying Alba away from her family. The little white dragonet continued to cry out, begging her parents to come and save her. To stop the scary Pokémon from taking her away. To take her home, where she could be warm and safe. To tell her a story and sing her a dragon's lullaby to get her to sleep, so she could wake up from this horrible nightmare.

But all they, or anyone, could do was watch helplessly as Alba and the Alolan Marowak disappeared into the forest and out of sight. Satisfied, Felicity called off her followers, and she pranced off into the woods with the other Alolan Pokémon hot on her heels.

With the Alolan Pokémon gone, Snivels and the others were easily able to free themselves of the different elemental traps that had been used to keep them at bay. Astrid finally arrived, with Axel close behind, but all too late. They could both tell from the expressions on their friends' faces that something terrible had just happened.

Hiccup stared off in the direction Alba had been taken. "We need to stop this feud," he said. "Now!"

* * *

 **First, Pokémon Sword and Shield is announced on Pokémon Day. Then, my family and I went to go see The Hidden World last weekend. I won't say anything more for those of you who have not seen the movie! But I can tell you I liked it more than the second film!**

 **Important Story Update: the Pokémon in this story that come from the fan game Solar Light and Lunar Dark have been removed. I knew it would be better to use Pokémon from the canon series, so Crackers is now a Sobble. He still, to quote Cottonmouth, "takes a level in bad*" in the episode Live and Let Fly, just not in the same way as he did in what we'll call the "original draft." I** **very kindly suggest going back and re-reading at least some of the chapters from the previous installments to become more familiar with the new layout of the series.**

 **And because I absolutely hate having Alba taken away from her family, I'll be hoping to get the next chapter up soon!**

 **Reviews are appreciated.**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: The Light and the Night

 **Two different references are in this chapter title. See if you can spot them. :)**

* * *

The next morning was when the world ended.

No, not really. It was just that Hiccup really, really hated to see Toothless sulking in the dirt and refusing to do absolutely anything else. The poor father Night Fury didn't even want to go on their usual midnight flight. He was too upset about losing Alba.

Ebony wasn't doing much better. She held all four of their other dragonets under her wings, crooning and whining sadly. Hiccup could have swore he saw what looked like tears in the mother dragon's eyes. But dragons didn't have tear ducts.

...Or did they?

As Snivels paced back and forth, nearly wearing out a line in the dirt, he passed Axel. He spared the Shiny Haxorus a concerned glance, still feeling worried about the issue that was eating at everyone's brains and hearts.

"Those Alolan Pokémon are becoming more stubborn," the Shiny animus said sadly. "Normally a Pokémon would never dare to take a dragonet away from its parents."

Of course, this remark came out of his mouth just as Snivels passed by the two depressed Night Furies. The black dragons moaned sadly, burying their heads into each other's necks at an attempt to comfort.

"But Felicity was right," Snivels admitted. He then stopped pacing and stood next to Hiccup. "Alba isn't a Night Fury, she's something else."

For a minute, Hiccup thought Snivels was just saying that because of how upset he was about what had happened. Then he remembered that Snivels did not like lying, so it was very much likely that he was being serious.

There was a rather long moment of silence before Blaze finally asked what they all wanted to know. "Okay, so, if she isn't a Night Fury, then what is she?"

Snivels and Brandyn were the only two, besides Toothless and Ebony, who were aware that Alba had come from a white egg from a relative species of the Night Fury. Everyone else had believed that Alba was simply an albino, which was quite rare for a dragon, but not unheard of.

"Her species is closely related to the Night Fury," the Aetherson boy explained. "But it's more rare and harder to find, mostly due to its ability to cloak. See, it heats itself up with its plasma blasts, which causes its scales to have mirror-like qualities. This allows it to blend into the background so that it's practically invisible. And they prefer to fly around in the daytime, so they're able to easily hide themselves in the clouds as well."

Even Snivels was impressed. "I spent nearly a year of my life traveling through every kind of island imaginable, and I have never even heard of that kind of dragon before."

"I have," said Adhesive, "But only because I'm from the future, at least, by all forms of technicality in this universe."

Kickin' Hawk gave the Poipole the signal to cut it out and stop talking. Dangerous things tended to happen whenever a being from the future revealed too much information, and they did not need anything like that going on right now.

On the sidelines, from where he had been standing, Hiccup scratched his chin in deep thought. "So, Alba's essentially a new species," he voiced his thoughts to all his friends. "Kind of like a...Bright..."

"A Light Fury," Astrid said, quite suddenly.

Her husband went to protest, but, after thinking it over for a few brief seconds, changed his mind. "Yeah, yours is better, probably."

Adhesive squirmed. _That's what they said in The Hidden World! Am I glad the Ultra Guardians invited me to go to the Ultra Megalopolis Theatre with them to see the movie last weekend, it's the best one I've ever seen! Just be a good little Poipole and don't go blabbing about it in front of your friends!_

Oh, how awkward the conversation would have become if he said any of that out loud. Fortunately, he didn't.

"Alright, I guess it's time to stop the fight and get Alba back," Heather said, almost too quiet for anyone to hear.

There were a few mumbles in agreement.

"T'would be helpful to have a proper plan," Axel reminded them, his expression matching his cynical tone of voice.

Ninjark looked thoughtful. "What if we arranged a meeting with Percy and Felicity? Lead a calm discussion to get to the root of the problem?"

Kickin' Hawk gave him a look that said, "Do you know anything about Persian?"

Adhesive broke his own silence to voice his idea. "I've actually seen this kind of situation happen before in other universes. All we need to do is find a common enemy between the two sides, bring it here, and they'll have no choice but to work together to defeat it."

"Sounds risky," Hiccup mused to himself. He then said out loud, "That just might work."

"It would," Axel said, "If they actually had a common enemy."

Blaze looked thoughtful. "What if we tried giving them a common enemy?"

"We could go back to the Ice Caves and get another dragon to play the part," mused Brandyn.

"Not Mortem or Bigwings," Snivels insisted, and with a lot of emphasis. The last thing they needed was those two dragonets growing up thinking that everyone was supposed to be afraid of them.

"What about the Speed Stingers?" Astrid suggested. "They're supposed to be really aggressive and territorial."

Hiccup shook his head. "That's just it. Armed with paralyzing venom, they'd just freeze all the Pokémon and win the fight easily. We need something less threatening."

"Why don't we just use Toothless and Ebony?" Ninjark asked, his eyes locked on the Night Furies.

That idea was immediately shot down by the rest of the team.

"That would be bad."

"No way that would turn out well."

"Definitely not!"

They weren't wrong. Felicity would know without a doubt what the Night Furies wanted, and that would only double the Alolan Pokémon's efforts to keep Alba away from them. Not to mention, their dragonets would likely be at risk of getting hurt in the fight.

"Aren't those kids all overthinking it?" Axel asked no one in particular.

Kickin' Hawk replied, "It's best they find the most reasonable and beneficial solution to a problem. Nothing like the Vikings do."

Now it was Hiccup's turn to pace as he narrowed down their options. "Okay, so we need something we can control, isn't too much of a threat, but still terrifying enough to the Pokémon..."

"You're basically asking for a Monstrous Nightmare and a Gronckle rolled into one," Astrid said, mostly to herself.

Adhesive heard it, however, and he immediately perked up, his eyes flashing with a brainstorm. "Two in one!" he exclaimed, flying over and hugging the blonde around the neck. "Astrid, you're a genius!" He then let go and started off in the direction of the Ice Caves. "Hold on, guys. _Uno momento!_ I'll be right back!"

Everyone watched the Poipole disappear on the horizon, their facial expressions carrying the exact same question.

 _What just happened?_

* * *

While the young heroes tried to find the solution, there was a Kantonian Persian lying down at the very edge of the bluff that overlooked the field where the Pokémon usually had their fights. Percy's eyes shone almost as bright as the red jewel that was in the center of his forehead as the sun slowly moved across the sky.

" _Who does that grey cat think she is?_ " he snarled to himself. " _She thinks she can charm me with those curly whiskers, and those...those sharp eyes, her silvery coat, and that pretty blue jewel._ " His snarl became a purr as he listed off those qualities, his eyes holding an obvious case of lovesickness.

Then he snapped right back to his serious and vengeful self. " _Well, no more! Only one of our types is the best! And it's high time we finally settle which one!_ " He stood tall and looked up at the sun, which was a few lengths away from being smack dab in the middle of the light blue blanket that was the sky. " _At noon, we fight! No matter how it ends, it ends today!_ "

* * *

Everyone waited for Adhesive to return, their patience gradually wearing thin. But all of the annoyance and doubt was quickly forgotten as surprise took its place when they saw what the Poipole had brought with him.

It was a quadruped dragon with multiple bumps on its back and tail, and a rounded face with a blunt nasal horn. It also had two pairs of short horns on their head and single claw-tipped wings.

To put it plainly, it looked like someone had taken different parts from a Monstrous Nightmare and a Gronckle and sewn them all together.

"Fellow Go-Getters," said Adhesive, gesturing grandly to the dragon. "Meet the Abomibumble! Born of a Monstrous Nightmare and a Gronckle for Project Hybrid, and just the dragon we need to settle this Alolan altercation!" He then patted the dragon on the head. "Everyone say hello to Meatfang."

Almost immediately, the shock and surprise turned into an array of looks that said 'are you serious?'

"Meatfang?" Blaze drawled disbelievingly.

Adhesive shrugged. "Hey, it was either that or Hooklug."

"We can discuss names later," said Axel, "Those Pokémon are one big fight away from going to war."

That last word was cruel enough to be a swear word, and they all knew that.

* * *

By now, both sides of the inflexible Pokémon inhabitants had lined up in front of the other in the open field. Percy could hear a series of cries from somewhere behind Felicity and her army. There was something small and scared that needed to be saved.

It wasn't long before Axel arrived, marching into the middle of the gap between the two sides. The team had agreed that the Shiny animus would try to talk to them one last time before they went through with the plan of using Meatfang as a common enemy to make the two sides work together. The Abomibumble looked like it would be a tough opponent in a real fight.

"I don't cast spells on other Pokémon," Axel announced, "But if it's the only way to get you all to stop fighting, I won't hesitate."

Percy and Felicity were the only ones who weren't intimidated by that. The two Persian had locked eyes, and nothing would ever distract the two rivals from each other.

Hiccup and the others watched from their hiding place in the bushes. Meatfang's hot breath tickled their necks, but they ignored it.

"Okay, I'm not usually big on Astrid-ing," Blaze said in a whisper, "But are we absolutely sure this is going to work? Because the last time Adhesive brought something from another world to here, Hiccup turned into a temperamental dragon and went on a rampage."

"Thanks," Hiccup said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I've been trying _so hard_ to forget that."

Adhesive gave a reassuring smile in response to the Blaziken's question. "Trust me, this is a great idea. It even blows away my idea for a dragon-themed hotel and restaurant called Dine and Den!"

That was NOT a very reassuring "yes."

Out on the field, all of the Pokémon were starting to yell at Axel to get out of the way. Seeing no other option, the Shiny Haxorus snapped his fingers and teleported away with the aid of a spell. He reappeared in the bushes behind Team Go-Getters, watching sadly as the two sides charged at each other and engaged in battle.

"This would be a good time to send Meatfang in there," Axel said.

In response to this, Adhesive signaled the Abomibumble to get into position. "Make the hybrids proud!" he encouraged strongly.

Meatfang trotted off into his selected hiding place, tongue lolling out of his mouth and his fat tail waggling back and forth like a puppy's.

"Wait," Astrid said suddenly, "Astrid-ing?" She looked up at Blaze. "You made me a verb?"

Blaze just smiled, amused by the disturbed look on her trainer's face.

* * *

"RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGHH!"

The low-pitched, screaming roar blasted through the fight occurring in the grassy field, instantly making all the Pokémon freeze right in their tracks. But that was nothing compared to how they reacted when they saw a bulky dragon burst out into the open, raging with an unexplainable anger.

All thoughts of Alba, winning the fight, and who's better than who were thrown away. Replacing them was one single thought that was more serious to the Pokémon than all of the above combined.

" _ROGUE DRAGON!_ " someone cried out in horror.

The Pokémon made a mad dash for the forest, only to find their path blocked by Meatfang. The Abomibumble was really getting in on the 'rogue dragon' act. He stomped his feet, flared his wings, and kept making that guttural roar. It was hard to notice his tail joyfully waggling back in forth as though he were playing the most fun-est game in the whole world. Most likely the Gronckle part of him looking to have a good time.

Percy and Felicity quickly started shouting orders to their respective sides.

" _Stop running!_ "

" _We need to contain him!_ "

" _Go for the legs!_ "

" _Pin down his wings!_ "

" _Grab his tail!_ "

" _Stop him from moving!_ "

The results were instantaneous. Two gigantic blobs, one all purple and one with alternating green, yellow and pink stripes, splattered onto Meatfang's wings and pinned them to the ground. Both Marowak ran in circles around the Abomibumble and smacked his legs with their bone clubs. The two Golem took a less active approach, simply galumphing over and sitting down on Meatfang's tail so their combined weight kept it from moving.

Adhesive watched the show with triumph in his eyes. "It's working! They're all teaming up to subdue what they think is a rogue dragon!"

But Snivels couldn't shake off the feeling that something about this plan was not going to go the way they wanted it to.

He was proven right when Percy and Felicity started arguing with one another.

" _Keep your savages away from my troops!_ "

" _Savages?! I'll have you know we are a sophisticated society!_ "

" _Whatever you are, stay out of our way!_ "

" _You're the one who started galumphing all over our turf!_ "

" _I was NOT galumphing! THIS is galumphing!_ "

Even the most effective noise-canceling earplugs in the whole world couldn't help the Servine ignore all of that. He'd had just about enough.

It got worse when the long-necked Alolan Exeggutor started stomping his feet and crying out in a panic. Being the tallest of the Pokémon on the island, it was his job to be the lookout and warn others of potential dangers. And this particular display was used to raise awareness to a certain kind of enemy.

"Playtime's over," Axel muttered before he stood up out of the bushes and started making his way to the open field. Not sure where this was going, but expecting that it wasn't going to be good, Hiccup made haste following the Shiny Haxorus, with the rest of the team following his lead.

Axel positioned himself between the two Persian, making sure their attention was on him. "Coconut's spotted a threat, Vikings no doubt. Pray tell how we're going to defend our island base when you can't even work together against a rogue dragon?"

" _Great,_ " hissed Felicity, " _Now we've got a pack of metal-heads stalking our island?!_ " She looked at Percy from around Axel's body. " _If you and your savages are so much better than us, then you go deal with those barbarians!_ "

Percy didn't budge up even a little bit. " _We're not savages, and we don't go doing the dirty work for others! You go take care of the Vikings if it's so important to you!_ "

" _And finally pass up the opportunity to prove you're nothing compared to me?_ " Felicity asked rhetorically.

"Stop it!" Snivels finally exploded. "Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!" He didn't care about all the looks he was receiving as a result of his outburst. The ridiculous feud had went and gotten right on his last nerve. "For Arceus's sake! The island is under attack and all you can think about is arguing over who's better than who! **_You're crazy!_** "

Percy and Felicity both blinked in surprise before the Alolan Persian asked, " _You kids brought the dragon here, didn't you?_ "

"Yes," Snivels admitted. "But we only did it to help you guys settle your differences and work together."

Felicity hung her head in shame. " _We have all been acting like mindless fools. Perhaps if I hadn't let my pride get in the way so much..._ "

" _I'm as much to blame as you,_ " said Percy.

Axel folded his arms across his chest and gave the two Persian a pointed look. Deliberately slowly and calmly, he enunciated, "Now let's focus on dealing with those Vikings. Especially since you two are behaving more cooperatively."

After a short pause, Percy and Felicity both nodded. They looked slightly unsure, but they weren't feuding anymore. There wasn't a minute for them to lose.

* * *

Most experienced sailors would scream and throw themselves to the deck, or else panic in general, if a squadron of dragons and Pokémon suddenly appeared literally out of the blue to ravage their ship. But Alvin was not most experienced sailors – as he recognized his chief enemies from Berk as they made their dramatic appearance, he simply smirked to himself and prepared to engage them in battle.

"Give 'em plenty o' lead!" he yelled to his soldiers, keeping his eyes trained on their pursuers. "Maybe we can take out a few meddlesome kids on the way home from that Fireworm infested island!"

The Outcast soldiers lined up and aimed their crossbows, ready to fire, but they were sadly too late to prevent Team Go-Getters from going on their first attack run. Meatfang peeled off from the group to deliver a destructive blow to the boat's side, and was then followed by Windshear and Buck blasting flames to incinerate the shields protecting the vessel. The Razorwhip and Grapple Grounder then separated, Windshear firing spines and Buck snapping his tail like a whip on opposite ends of the ship. The resulting blows were enough to send waves rippling across the water.

"That ought to get their attention," Brandyn said to no one in particular.

Each trainer flew alongside both a Kantonian and an Alolan Pokémon, which shadowed them from above or to the side on the backs of their island's local dragons, mostly Nadders and Gronckles. The less transportable Pokémon, specifically Dugtrio, Golem, Muk and Exeggutor, were tasked with staying on the island to ward off any additional intruders. Axel, meanwhile, seemed happier flying higher than them all upon his colleague, a fully-grown Timberjack.

Team Go-Getters and their 'wingmen' split up, with each one taking their turn to strike at the Outcasts' ship. Wavern and Stormfly came in for a go after Heather and Brandyn were finished, the Noivern releasing concussive sound waves from her ears while the Deadly Nadder shot razor-sharp poison spikes at the barbarians. While having their senses rattled by the loud noise, it was all they could do to throw themselves out of the way of the spikes.

The familiar sound of a charging plasma blast rang out across the endless ocean as the dark shape of Toothless flew over the boat. Maw already brimming with blue flames as he gathered plasma in his mouth, he angled his wings and tail and headed straight for the Outcast ship, ready to blow its prow into smithereens.

But, surprisingly, Hiccup put a halt to that plan.

"Toothless, wait!" he shouted. "I have a better idea."

The Night Fury swallowed the fire he'd been moments away from shooting and pulled up at his rider's command. Raising his voice, Hiccup ordered, "Go-Getters, hold your fire and fall back!"

Only Snivels and Astrid seemed to understand the reasoning behind the command, and they brought Verne and Stormfly up to where Hiccup was without hesitation. Glancing over at two of the most important 'people' in his life, Hiccup could see that there was no doubt in their eyes, which reassured him. The rest of the team were slightly less aware of his true intentions, however, and stopped dead in midair. They hovered in place for a second, probably letting their brains process his orders for a second, before they simultaneously turned around in midflight to join him.

Some of the Outcasts took aim with their crossbows and fired a few shots, but they seemed to do so halfheartedly, like they knew they couldn't really get the retreating heroes anyway. Apart from that, Hiccup and the others met no resistance at all as they turned tail and flew back the way they had come.

"I know that look," Snivels observed. "You've just come up with a genius plan."

"Yes, and it's one you're all going to approve of," Hiccup assured him, his voice carrying one hundred percent, complete confidence.

Off to the left, Axel caught on almost immediately and gestured with his hand for the other Pokémon to follow him. The Kantonians and Alolans quickly fell in formation, and nobody else spoke until the Outcast ship was only the tiniest speck in the distance.

* * *

After the sudden attack run by Team Go-Getters, the atmosphere was quiet except for the soft lapping of the waves against the boat's hull. The soldiers held their crossbows high, staring up at the empty sky for any sign of Dragon or Pokémon activity.

There was none.

"I don't see anything," Savage remarked, shielding his eyes as he stared in the direction of the sun. The statement was kind of unnecessary, seeing as nobody else could see anything, either.

"Maybe they aren't coming!" the unpleasant man added hopefully.

"Oh, they'll come," Mildew said with certainty, shaking his head at Savage.

"'e's right," Alvin agreed. "Their sen'iment is their weakness. Isn't tha' right, Hyde?"

He directed the last part at his Dusknoir, who had been hovering with his arms folded across his chest. Having only one eye and his mouth in his stomach area always made his expressions hard to read. Alvin always made the assumption that his partner was on board with all of his plans, even when the Dusknoir's lack of enthusiasm said otherwise.

Hyde's head snapped upwards, catching sight of something new and completely surprising just above Alvin's head.

He wasn't the only one to have seen it, either – Savage gasped and raised his bone club in preparation to attack.

Alvin, though, seemed to be completely oblivious to the chubby black Raticate perched rather comfortably atop his helmet.

"D–" Mildew tried to say, but was knocked aside by Savage before he could speak.

"Psst, Alvin!" he whispered, raising his club a little higher. "Don't move!"

Exulans – the Alolan Raticate on Alvin's head– stayed perfectly still, twitching his tail this way and that, not even giving any indication that he'd noticed Savage at all. The second-in-command of the Outcasts snuck up behind his boss and then swung his club to hit...

...Alvin on the helmet, as Exulans vaulted off of the Outcast leader a split second before Savage would've hit him. Instead, it was Alvin who went crashing down to the deck, while Exulans remained unseen no matter where Savage glanced. The Alolan Raticate's squeaks rang tauntingly in his ears, but he couldn't find the blasted Pokémon anywhere!

A low moan came from Alvin's mouth as he slowly dragged himself to his feet. The sound made Savage stop looking for the black Raticate and immediately freeze up in fear once he realized what it was he'd just done. And to drive the point home, Alvin tilted his head up to shoot his underling a scalding glare of pure murder.

"O-Oh, I, uh, l-let me explain, Alvin!" Savage frantically stammered, dropping his club and holding up his hands. "Th-There w-was a...uh, a little beast on –"

Too angry to pay attention to his blubbering, Alvin drew his sword and held it high above his head to teach Savage a lesson – when suddenly the astonished leader of the Outcast tribe found the weapon being ripped straight out of his hands by some mysterious force.

Up above the ship, Psytric - the Alolan Raichu - let out a taunting cry of victory as he used his psychic powers to levitate the Outcast chief's sword far out of reach. The Kantonian Raichu - Shocker - was hitching a ride on the tail of his regional variant. Together, the two electric mice unleashed a double Thunderbolt that reduced the sword to a smoking mess of what had once been shiny metal.

Down below, Alvin could be heard bellowing at his minions to shoot at the Pokémon. Witnessing an array of crossbows being aimed their way, Axel nodded to himself and prepared himself to take the action that would contribute to the mission. " _Imperium aqua_ ," he shouted as loud as he could.

The result of the incantation was instantaneous. A large wall of water that rose up from the ocean in response to a raising gesture of the Shiny Haxorus's hand. The arrows fired from the Outcast crossbows never got the chance to make contact with their targets as the manipulated waves of water absorbed them and then dispersed them into the wide blue platform of the sea.

Smiling uncontrollably, the animus confided to Percy and Felicity with childish joy, "I've always wanted to use that spell!"

On the deck of the ship, Exulans continued his job of jumped from on Outcast head to the next, aided by his regional variant, Tawny. Each attempt at striking the two Pokémon down was the same - an Outcast soldier toppling unconsciously to the floor as the weapon was brought down on their heads instead of their intended targets.

"Stay still, you little...!" Mildew cried, making a break for the quick-footed rats.

He got maybe three steps toward his targets before the two Marowak jumped in. The Alolan variant - Nightmarcher - bone-slugged the old man's midsection, sending him stumbling back. A second later, the Kantonian variant - Marrow - clubbed him in the head and knocked him down, unconscious even before his body hit wood.

Raging with fury, the Outcast chief opened the hatch to below the ship's deck to release the Houndoom. "Let 'em have it!" Alvin roared.

Obediently, the Dark Pokémon all belched out streams of fire with a terrifying rage. There was already a duo of Ninetales that had landed on the ship's deck to join the fight, but the Ice-type variant was about to be at the mercy of the array of Flamethrower attacks!

There was no need to worry, though – for the Fire-type variant had the Ability known as Flash Fire. Throwing himself in front of his regional variant, Kitsune effortlessly absorbed the streams of fire into his fur, leaving not even a hint of a scorch mark on his shiny coat. Now that the fire had been dealt with, Borealis was able to breathe a powerful Blizzard at the Houndoom, which made them all shiver in spite of their fire characteristics.

Alvin the Treacherous growled. "What is wrong with all o' you?! They're jus puny li'l beasts! Stop foolin' around and conquer 'em out already!"

Ignorant of the yells of their chief, one of the more cowardly Outcast soldiers ran to the rudder and practically shoved it to the side to make the ship turn around.

Up above, Axel looked to Percy and Felicity. "Think you can clip their wings?" he asked, winking.

Taking the hint, the two Persian leapt off of the Timberjack's gigantic wings, heading straight for the ship with claws outstretched. The Classy Cat duo caught themselves on the ship's sail and started sliding down, the fabric tearing as their sharp claws sliced through it like hot knives through a stick of butter.

A minute later, all that was left were a bunch of pathetic strips of fabric swaying in the wind.

Axel steered his Timberjack to swoop down low, the big-winged dragon easily catching the two Persian as they leapt into the air. A plus to that maneuver was that the ship was now lacking its main mast, thanks to the Timberjack's razor-sharp wings snapping it in half like a toothpick. (Axel wondered why he hadn't thought of doing that in the first place.)

The other regional variants on the ship followed suit upon the Nadders and Gronckles. "Just one last thing," the Shiny Haxorus muttered.

At his signal, the two Sandslash - Pangolin and Icebreaker - unleashed a barrage of rocks from Rock Slide and icicles from Icicle Crash that nailed the Outcasts in a multitude of different places. Holes were punched in the hull and sides, the already ruined sail was ripped to pretty much nothing, and the figurehead splintered off and fell into the sea. The rest of the boat – simply unable to stand up to the assault – was close to follow, and the Outcasts jumped overboard.

At last, with that mission done, it was time for the regional variants to head back home. With Axel and his Timberjack at the head of their formation, they all assembled and exhaustedly flew towards their island, Team Go-Getters waiting expectantly not too far ahead.

"Oh, baby!" a certain Poipole squealed, doing backflips in the air. "That was some awesome! The common enemy plan always works!"

"Except it almost didn't," Snivels reminded him. He had to scramble to hold on to the white fur around Verne's neck as the Noivern spontaneously nodded in agreement.

"Guess that almost-failure was worth something after all," mused Heather. Even she knew just what to say in regards to this happy ending – the rest of the team was, indeed, smiling and nodding their agreement.

* * *

In contrast, the prevailing mood amongst the three shipwrecked surviving Outcasts was, to put it bluntly, foul.

"Gah, Fungus!" shouted Mildew, watching helplessly as his pet sheep floated past the raft. He rubbed his head and grunted, "Wha...what happened?"

Irritably, Alvin sniped at him, "I'll give you an 'int! Yeh got beaten senseless by a buncha puny beasties!"

He pounded the raft with a fist, his frustration overflowing. Especially when he got a glimpse of Hyde floating way up above the raft, sighing comfortably to himself like he didn't have a care in the world.

"Those little critters seem to be getting tougher each time..." sighed Savage.

"W-Well, let's look at the positive!" Mildew suggested.

A fist to the face was what he got in reply, knocking him out for the second time in almost as many minutes.

"Let's not," Alvin wisely decided, and began to kick his legs, pushing the raft in the direction of home.

Fungus bleated sadly as he hopped aboard the raft, not seeing the Sharpedo fin rising up above the surface and stealthily getting closer...

* * *

Axel was happy to announce to the Pokémon who had stayed behind on the island that the dispute between the regional variants had been resolved. Percy and Felicity were both given the honor of stating that the meaningless feud was finally over.

"I can't thank you kids enough for this," said a very grateful Axel. "Fjord was right, you've got a knack for solving problems no one else can fix. Promise you'll keep doing it?"

Everyone immediately turned to Hiccup, who shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, if there's ever anything else you need, all you have to do is ask us."

The Shiny Haxorus's smile widened a great deal. "Pray tell, have you always been this pleasantly humble?"

The sound of Astrid's laughter made Hiccup turn more red than a Monstrous Nightmare.

It was Heather who noticed Felicity and Nightmarcher approaching them, the Alolan Marowak carrying a certain white dragonet that was squirming eagerly in his grasp. "Guys, look!"

Their faces all lit up with joy as Nightmarcher set Alba down gently into the grass. The baby Light Fury's bright blue eyes landed on her adopted parents and she immediately started bounding toward them happily. Toothless and Ebony heard their daughter's delighted squeaks and spotted her almost instantly. Squirming with joy and relief, the male Night Fury met Alba halfway in a single bound, affectionally nuzzling her with enough force to make the dragonet topple over onto her back. Alba squealed with delight as her father showered her in dragon kisses, an action that was soon joined by Ebony. The four Night Fury dragonets, not wanting to be left out of such a joyful reunion, slinked in under their parents' noses, begging for some attention.

" _We made a mistake,_ " purred Felicity, " _Taking a dragonet away from the ones that love her the most. Perhaps we could have avoided causing so much trouble if we had looked at those dragons properly._ "

Snivels nearly laughed out loud at that last sentence. "You're not the only ones," he said, glancing at Astrid out of the corner of his eye.

Behind them, Kickin' Hawk mounted Meatfang, who didn't seem at all fazed by the earlier fight out at sea. "I'll escort this fella back to the Ice Caves," said the Hawlucha. "After what he's been through, it's best he get a proper rest in Ultra Megalopolis." The Abomibumble didn't wait for his rider to signal a liftoff, he sprang into the air with eagerness and did a few playful loop-the-loops before soaring off in the direction of the Ice Caves.

A bright light on the horizon nearly blinded the remaining members of the team. They hadn't realized that it was sunset, but there was no denying the sun's half-hidden position, or the sight of the full moon making its presence known on the opposite side of the sky.

Shielding her eyes, Heather muttered to herself, "Wow, the sunsets on this island must be so..."

She didn't get the chance to finish before Brandyn suddenly cried out. Two Cosmoem were floating straight out of his pocket and into the air above them. Ra and Camazotz levitated over to where the light of the sun and the light of the moon would bathe them both.

Adhesive let out a gasp of anticipation and quickly whipped out his cell phone and activated the built-in video camera.

A smart idea, because no sooner had he pressed the record button when a light several times brighter than the setting sun made everyone shield their eyes. Brandyn was able to catch glimpses of his partners, and he could see their puny Cosmoem forms shifting and getting bigger.

Much, _much_ bigger.

A mighty roar and a shrill screech sounded as the lights faded, revealing a large white lion and a purple skeletal bat where a pair of Cosmoem had once been. Brandyn's jaw practically dropped to the floor. He'd seen these Pokémon before, pictured, and labeled, in an ancient book that told of the Legendary guardians of the sun and moon.

"Solgaleo and Lunala!"

Behind him, every else wore matching expressions of shock and awe at the sight of the two newly-evolved Legendary Pokémon. "Almighty Arceus be praised," breathed a very entranced Blaze.

"The legends were real," Ninjark said, mostly to himself. "Cosmog and Cosmoem evolve into the guardians of the sun and moon. But...how could they have evolved at the exact same time?"

Axel had the answer to that question. "Cosmoem evolves into Solgaleo when bathed in the light of the sun, and into Lunala when bathed in the light of the moon. If I had to guess, the presence of both of those kinds of light most likely helped them both evolve into the form of their choosing."

Brandyn drowned out all of their words. All that mattered to him was that his two best friends were moving and making sounds when they had been motionless and silent mere moments ago. Ignoring the wet feeling in his eyes, he sprinted forward, crying out the names of his two partners.

Ra and Camazotz turned their heads toward the sound of their names and smiled at the familiar form of their trainer. The two Legendary Pokémon lowered their heads to Brandyn's level so he was able to hug them both around their necks.

"I missed you both so much," Brandyn choked out.

Camazotz the Lunala crooned, "We missed you, too."

Involuntarily, Hiccup slipped a hand to Astrid's shoulder as he watched the two mighty Pokémon interact with their trainer after being trapped in their inactive Cosmoem forms for so long. The former Hofferson started, then put her own hand on his shoulder. They didn't need to be told by anyone, they both knew instinctively that the earlier display was the perfect sign of the many great things that were still yet to come their way.

* * *

Back on Berk, Adhesive and Snivels watched the double Cosmoem evolution play on the screen of the Poipole's laptop. Snivels's eyes shimmered with awe, it was just as fascinating the second time as it was the first time around.

But what really got the Poipole excited was the number that was rapidly increasing at the bottom of the screen. "Whoa, check it out! Five billion hits already?! I bet everyone I know saw it!"

Snivels just shook his head and smiled. "Yeah, well, enjoy it while it lasts, Ad. Fame is fleeting..."

"But the internet is forever," Adhesive finished with a big grin. He then closed the web browser that he had used to upload the video on YouTube, and Snivels noticed a file he had open on the desktop.

"What is that?"

It was a symbol, he knew that much. It looked like the layout of a rock-paper-scissors chart, but with the three starter Pokémon types instead. And sitting right in the middle of the triangle was a sun and a moon.

"It's a design I've been working on," Adhesive answered. "For Team Go-Getters. I found all those old drawings you had of the team symbol last Monday while I was looking for a book to read for Retro Day. I hope you don't mind that I remodeled it."

"I think it looks great," Snivels said honestly. "It'll be perfect for the new team symbol. Have you considered becoming an artist?"

Adhesive shook his head. "No, I want to be a movie director."

"Good luck with that," Snivels said automatically, despite not knowing what the Poipole was talking about.

* * *

 _Differences can divide a community, but also bring it closer together. It all depends on how hard you look._

 _Ultimately, though, we're all just the same._

* * *

Fjord's eyes scanned the shining, frosty caverns with much interest. He wasn't in the Ice Caves, he was in a different place entirely. These caverns housed dragons, many dragons, some of whom had been injured in battle or by traps set by Vikings and other people who wanted them dead.

A figure stood before the Kyurem, dressed entirely in brown armor that was partially painted blue. A large mask decorated with several horn-like spikes kept their face completely hidden. But Fjord knew full well who was wearing the mask.

The only other human branch chief for the Resistance.

One could say they were an old friend.

"Please," the person begged, their voice undeniably female, "I need to know. Where are they? When can I see them again?"

Fjord gave her a sad and regretful look. "I know you're tired of hearing the same answer, but it's the only information I can give you at this moment in time. Stoick is the same as always." He paused, lowering his head so that he was eye level with the branch chief.

"But both of your children are alive and safe."

* * *

 **Yep.**

 **That's right.**

 **Fjord just said "both."**

 **Let it sink in...three...two...one...**

 **Reviews are appreciated.**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Appetite for Destruction

 **Same title, different plot. Might also be the case for a select few other episodes.**

* * *

 _I had to learn the hard way that secrets are one of the things you can't keep forever. One way or another, they'll make themselves known._

 _But some are harder to deal with than others._

* * *

It was morning, and two larger-than-life dragonets sat within the cove, lazily digesting their breakfast of fish. They were Mortem and Bigwings, the Red Death and Screaming Death that Team Go-Getters had to bring home with them from the Ice Caves. Now, they weren't against keeping the dragonets, it was the thought of what Stoick would do if he found out that was the problem.

Communicating by making low gurgling sounds deep in their throats, the two creatures settled down to enjoy their full bellies.

But not for long.

You see, when dragonets reach a certain age, they hit a growth spurt. And when that happens, they need to eat larger quantities of food in order to fuel their growing body. The process applied to unevolving Pokémon, too, including most of the Legendary and Mythical beings.

So not even a hour had passed when Mortem awoke to the sound of his grumbling, empty stomach. He groaned in discontentment. He'd have to wait until lunchtime to eat again, like the good little (or rather, big) dragonet he was.

Bigwings, though, had other ideas. He wasn't going to wait until the next feeding time to eat again. He needed food, and he needed it now, so that's what he was going to get. So, after a few experimental flaps of his wings, he flew out of the cove and started for the village.

Mortem lifted his head and watched the retreating tail of the Screaming Death dragonet disappear through the trees and rocks of the forest. A louder, and more urgent, growl from his empty stomach was the only thing that had the power to persuade him to follow Bigwings.

Although he was just old enough to fly, Mortem instead decided to climb his way out of the cove, which wasn't as hard as one would think, given how big he was. As he followed Bigwings, the poor Red Death dragonet's innocence and naivety kept him blind to the consequences that would follow their actions.

* * *

The members of Team Go-Getters were unaware of what Bigwings and Mortem were doing. Mostly due to the fact that they were working on a certain project Snivels had come up with.

An orphanage and adoption center for dragon eggs and dragonets whose families had been lost, either in the war or in another form of tragedy.

The operation had barely been made public to the Resistance when the team found their hands full with several different species of dragons whose ages ranged from newly-laid eggs to juveniles.

However, being the island of Berk, it wasn't very long before things started to get progressively out of hand. And thus, what was supposed to be a calm morning feeding and playing with adorable dragonets had turned into a game to see who could catch the most of the rambunctious little rascals.

In one particular spot of the forest, the bushes shook before a little Mudraker tore threw them and dove into a puddle of mud. Crooning happily, the dragonet started rolling around like a piglet, with no intention of stopping until every inch of him was covered with the cool, brown, heavenly sludge.

Grimacing with disgust, the Servine that had been following the dragonet inched out of the bushes and toward the mud he so did not want to get on himself. "This isn't funny anymore, Clay!"

The Mudraker dragonet looked up at the sound of his name, only to return to his muddy luxury two seconds later.

Snivels had to leave a trail of herrings to get Clay to follow him, keeping himself a good ten feet away from the muddy dragonet. Or was it twenty-five feet? He really wasn't sure.

Anyway, the Mudraker was more than happy to slurp down the slippery little squirts the Servine was placing for him to eat. Clay just didn't understand why some creatures would just leave perfectly good food on the ground.

Snivels didn't even notice when they'd reached their destination until he tripped over a Tide Glider that was nearly as long as he was. The aquatic dragonet let out a cry of surprise as the Servine toppled over her. "Sorry, Tsunami," he said when he realized what had happened.

The Tide Glider seemed to accept his apology, as she quickly got over it and went to play in the lake with Geyser the Scauldron. Clay followed, for where there was water there was most likely to be mud as well.

Of course, the Mudraker and the Tide Glider weren't the only dragonets the team was working to take care of. A nibble on Snivels's tail made him aware of Fearless the Flightmare's presence. The look in the dragonet's eyes told the Servine she wanted a little treat, which came in the form of a bit of algae which lacked the blue-green glow that gave Fearless's species their spinetingling reputation.

"Did I forget to mention that dragonet still gives Astrid the creeps?" asked a certain Blaziken, who happened to be passing by carrying a bucket full of rocks.

"Which one?" asked a genuinely confused Snivels, "The tough-as-nails, axe-wielding Trainer of Destiny, or the daughter you and Kickin' Hawk named after her?"

While it was true Asta the Torchic was named after Blaze's trainer (Asta was a nickname given to help prevent everyday confusion), she was almost the exact opposite of Astrid the tough-as-nails, axe-wielding Trainer of Destiny, as Snivels had so accurately put it.

"Both," admitted Blaze.

Hoping to change the subject, the Servine prince asked her, "Wanna help me check on the other dragonets?"

Blaze shook her head. "No, thanks." Then she stumbled when a chubby little Gronckle bumped into her from behind. Grabbing the dragonet by one of the wings, she asked, "What did you say her name was?"

"Bumblebee," Snivels said without hesitation. "You should see how she flies, it's a little more bee-like than any Gronckle I've ever known."

The familiar boom of an explosion made both the Servine and the Blaziken turn to see a smoking area nearby. Moments later, a baby Monstrous Nightmare and Hideous Zippleback that could have easily passed as miniature versions of Hookfang and Barf and Belch scampered past, with combustible smoke seeping out of one of the two-headed dragonet's mouths.

A large black shape dove through the trees, followed by a smaller blue one, and both of them sported some very unamused teens sitting in their saddles.

"We really need to find those guys better playmates," Hiccup grumbled.

Snivels looked up at his trainer. "I've tried everything, Hiccup, but Stoker and Yin and Yang are only interested in playing with each other."

"How many different species of dragonets do we have to take care of?" Blaze asked, casually tossing a palm-sized rock into Bumblebee's open mouth.

"As many as we can," Astrid told her, running a finger down the edge of one of the blades of her axe. "According to Mr. Blueblood, the more creatures we have, the better we're able to operate as a team."

Hiccup quickly added, almost enthusiastically, "There's strength in numbers, especially when there's a wider variety of species each with their own strengths and weaknesses."

Snivels nodded to both of them in thanks.

"Hiccup!"

The shout came from Brandyn, who had led Buck the Grapple Grounder over to a small ledge that overlooked the forest slope that lead to the village below. Hiccup dismounted from his position in the saddle and walked over to see a pair of recognizable dragonets. The large baby dragons were slithered and stomped down the slope, following their noses to where the food was - the Berk storehouses.

"Aren't Mortem and Bigwings supposed to be in the cove?" the blonde Aetherson boy asked, his voice wavering with reasonable nervousness.

"Yes," responded Hiccup in the exact same tone. "Yes, they are."

Scrambling to the ledge, Snivels quickly realized that the two male trainers were correct. "No way this is going to turn out well. Adhesive!" That last word came out in the form of a yell.

The Poipole appeared within seconds, saluting the Servine. "Present!"

"Call the Resistance," said Snivels, "Or the Ultra Guardians, or anyone who can help us! We can't let those metal-heads down there hurt Mortem!"

Adhesive flew off to get his cell phone and was about to unlock it when he remembered something rather important. "It's Retro Day. I'm not allowed to use any technology for twenty-four hours." He flew back to the Servine and handed him the phone. "You're gonna have to do it!"

Snivels did a double take before letting out a shocked, "What?!"

"There's an emergency user's guide in the Settings," Adhesive said, calmly. "It'll tell you everything you need to know."

That sounded helpful. But at the rate Mortem and Bigwings were moving, Hiccup was sure they'd reach the village before Snivels even had a chance to figure out how to work Adhesive's phone.

"There isn't time," he decided. "Let me handle this."

He made a move towards Toothless, who obligingly displayed his flank so that Hiccup could more easily get to the saddlebag.

"You're going to fly all the way to the Ice Caves?" asked Blaze, incredulously.

"Nope," Hiccup denied her. After a second or two of searching through the saddlebag, he found what he'd been looking for – a dragon whistle, this one in the shape of a Terrible Terror's head.

Making sure that the mouth piece was clean, Hiccup put it to his lips and blew. The screech that came from the instrument sounded loud and shrill enough to be heard for miles, and a response was not long in coming. With a flurry of wings, a green Terrible Terror - Snivels had said his name was Sharpshot - dove through a gap in the trees and perched expertly on the shoulder of the human who had called for him. Seemingly impressed with his own performance, Sharpshot chirped with pleasure.

"Interesting," Brandyn said, "I didn't know you had made a dragon whistle for those guys."

Putting away the whistle, Hiccup then reached into the saddlebag again and pulled out a piece of parchment rolled around a stick of charcoal. As he wrote, he muttered absentmindedly, "There's no need for me to fly to the Ice Caves."

Several other Terrors, each a different color, and some of them dragonets, came flying in from through the trees, responding to the sound of the dragon whistle just as Sharpshot had. Heather and Ninjark quickly followed, having been in the process of counting the dragons to see just how many Terrible Terrors there were.

"What is going on?" panted Heather, who needed a moment to catch her breath.

"Team Go-Getter business," was Snivels's reply. "A certain duo of dragonets just started getting the growth spurt hungers."

Finally, Hiccup finished whatever he was scribbling down and rolled up the parchment tightly. He drew a piece of sturdy string made from Silkspanner webbing and motioned Sharpshot closer. The green Terrible Terror extended a leg, to which Hiccup securely tied the note. The other three trainers watched the whole process with unanimous fascination.

Through the demonstration, Hiccup explained, "Fjord and I have been working on something new. He says it's called 'air mail'."

"You really think that Sharpshot is going to fly straight to the Ice Caves and back to Berk?" inquired Astrid. Intrigued, she gave her husband and his new messenger a long, studious once-over.

"Yep," the team leader replied in the affirmative. He gave Sharpshot a scratch under the chin, to which the Terror purred with delight. "Dragons are especially territorial, and combined with their amazing navigational instincts, it's a habit of theirs to return to their homes from wherever they get sent to."

"I've heard of carrier pigeons," volunteered Heather, "But that's pretty ridiculous."

"And how will we know if the Resistance got the message?" Ninjark wondered.

At first, Hiccup didn't answer. Instead, he tightened the knot on the string a little before giving Sharpshot a hand signal. Understanding, the Terrible Terror flapped his wings a few times before lifting off, his wings beating steadily as he flew up past the treetops and out of sight.

"When they send some Legendary Pokémon to Berk," Hiccup finally stated, and climbed back onto Toothless.

With another scoff, Astrid rolled her eyes and swore, "If that happens, I'll kiss Snotlout on the lips."

There was a pregnant pause.

"That's it, then," Snivels spoke up, his face the epitome of apprehension. "We're dead."

* * *

It wasn't too hard to find out where Mortem and Bigwings had gone. There was a big commotion near one of the storehouses, like the time just before the creation of the academy, when the dragons were going through a streak of disobedience. Only this time, instead of heading toward the mess, the Vikings were all running away from it, every one of them wearing a look of pure horror.

"The monster has returned!"

"It's going to eat us all!"

"Someone get the chief!"

Blaze sidestepped an adult male Viking who was running and screaming like a little girl. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say the dragonets went that way," she said, pointing in the direction from which the Viking had been running.

The part of it that made the most sense was that it was one of the larger storehouses, capable of holding enough food to feed a village as vast as the one on Berk for at least five winters (though that didn't mean they ever had that much food). Bigwings had his entire head in a medium-sized fishing basket, slurping down every morsel he could find. Mortem, however, was behaving more cautiously, sniffing every bit of food he laid his eyes on to see if what he found was safe to eat.

Snivels was the first to arrive on the scene. "Guys, you're not supposed to be here!"

Mortem stopped eating and gave the Servine a guilty and submissive look. Bigwings, however, barely acknowledged him at all.

"Go back to the cove," Snivels commanded the dragonets, pointing towards the forest. "If Stoick finds you two here, he's gonna...!" He froze at the sound of a loud thump from behind. He slowly turned around to look, expecting the worst. Thankfully, it wasn't who he thought it was.

All four Trainers of Destiny sat atop their dragon mounts, which made them look bigger and more intimidating to Mortem.

"Please don't scare me like that," Snivels uttered in relief. "I thought you guys were Stoick."

Finally, Bigwings pulled his head out of the basket to see what was going on. He let out a disappointed grumble when he realized that snack time was pretty much over for him.

Chancing a quick look around, Hiccup said, "Let's get them both into the forest before my dad really does show up."

The home of Team Go-Getters was as crowded as ever, but it was hard for Hiccup and the others to not notice the two large, wolfish Pokémon that easily towered over the four trainers. One was mostly blue and holding a sword in its mouth while the other was mostly red had a shield-like structure protecting its body.

The shield-wolf approached the group in big, slow strides. "It's nice to finally meet the four trainers Fjord has told us so much about," he said. He looked up at Sharpshot, who was sitting ever so pleasantly on top of his head.

At the sight of the green Terror, Hiccup suddenly sat up in the saddle in an attempt to reach the shield-wolf's eye level.

"You guys must be from the Resistance," he said. He would have been relieved if it wasn't for the look Astrid was giving him. "Thank you so much for coming on such short notice."

From the way her eye twitched, Hiccup could tell she wasn't taking the act of being completely wrong very well.

"I am Escutcheon," stated the shield-maned canid. He gestured to the other Pokémon with his head. "This is my partner, Rapier."

The sword-carrying canid bowed his head a little, uttering something incomprehensible around the hilt of the blade that he kept in his mouth.

As the four trainers dismounted their dragons, Hiccup tried to avoid making eye contact with a very livid Astrid.

"Say it," she threatened quietly, "And those will be the last words you ever speak." Then, to emphasize her point, she cracked her knuckles.

The quiet ferocity with which she spoke those words was enough to make him shut his trap instantly. Not that he wanted to say anything about it, anyway. If he was being honest with himself, he had been secretly hoping that the message hadn't reached the Resistance.

"As you may have noticed, I'm usually the one who does the talking," said Escutcheon, "If you ever want to know what Rapier is saying, I'll be more than happy to inform you."

"We're just glad you're here to help," Hiccup insisted. "Do either of you know how to handle larger-than-life dragonets?"

Escutcheon thought for a minute before shaking his head. "Not dragonets, no." He then turned his body to show that he had a pair of satchels with egg-shaped bulges hanging on each of his sides. "But Rapier and I could use the practice for our own children."

"You have eggs?" Brandyn asked with interest. "Congrats!"

"Wouldn't they be safer with a babysitter?" Heather asked.

Gesturing to the Legendary duo, Ninjark suggested, "They probably didn't have time to hire one."

Snivels, meanwhile, ended up getting pulled aside by Adhesive for a quick lesson on how to use a cell phone. The device was about the size of an average human hand - which was a rare find, considering how many Vikings inhabited the island - and was mostly screen with only one button at the bottom. The moment the Servine pressed it curiously, the whole screen lit up.

"It's asking you for a passcode," Adhesive explained, "If you get it wrong too many times, it'll lock you out. Now, listen carefully, the code is zero-three-two-six-one-zero."

The Servine looked nervously at the keypad that had appeared on the screen of the iPhone. Moving slowly and carefully, he pressed the numbers in what he hoped was the correct order. Any amount of relief that would have followed the screen unlocking was quickly forgotten when he saw what image Adhesive had set as his screen background.

Now, it wasn't a surprise to find that it was a Hiccstrid kiss, but there was something odd about it. For one, Snivels didn't recognize the building behind them, and two, they looked a few years older than they were now.

Adhesive quickly figured out what the Servine was staring at and chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I don't know how I forgot about that. Long story short: canon timeline, three years in the future. Now, select the icon with the gear in it, that's the Settings app. Scroll the screen down with your finger, third list below the owner's info has General listed at the top, select that. The emergency user's guide is listed third in that section."

Snivels listened to the instructions carefully to make sure he didn't miss anything important. Despite it being his first time utilizing a cell phone, it was actually easier to handle than he originally thought.

"User's guide," the Servine muttered under his breath as he selected it. Then he started reading as he scrolled down the list, "iPhone 25's features... unlimited data...mobile library expansion..."

"It's all pretty straightforward," said Adhesive. "You'll get the hang of it long before Stoick proves a threat to Mortem again."

"Again?" Snivels repeated. looking up from the phone's screen. "You mean, this has happened before?"

Adhesive shifted nervously, having realized what he'd let slip. "In another timeline," he explained. "Go into the Safari app, there's a list of quick-click links that'll take you to the written stories of the other dimensions. The one you'll need is listed second."

The Servine did exactly as the Poipole suggested. The moment the app opened up, he was greeted with a long list of suggested pages, most of them from the same website. He was about to tap the second option when the one that was listed first caught his eye.

"Monsters of Berk," he read aloud. Then his eyes lit up, and he tapped the link.

Adhesive fidgeted anxiously. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said in a tone the Servine couldn't quite place.

Snivels looked up at the Poipole with a small, reassuring smile. "I just want to make sure Ratha and Rathi are okay."

* * *

 ** _In the Monsters of Berk Universe_**

All the trees in the Berk forest were nearly set aflame by the fire that accompanied the thunderous sneezes emitted by a duo of juvenile Flying Wyverns. A moment later, their concerned and overprotective surrogate Nargacuga mother came rushing over.

" _Are you two alright?_ "

The one-eyed Rathalos and his Rathian friend (who was really more like an almost-girlfriend he was head over talons in love with) looked at each other with matching looks of realization.

 _Someone's talking about us._

* * *

No-one spoke as they waited in the living room of their house – at first, anyway. But as the minutes crawled by and eventually turned into hours, someone had to say it.

"I thought my dad would have heard about the incident by now," Hiccup confessed to the others, once it became apparent that the chief wouldn't be arriving at their living quarters for a while.

"Maybe word got lost," suggested Astrid. She scanned the outside area through the window, spotting Mortem easily. The large dragonet had a boatload of fish piled in front of him, but he wasn't even touching it.

"If only we were that lucky," replied Snivels, his eyes scanning the screen of Adhesive's phone. He'd found the right link - though not after scanning through Monsters of Berk until it had become clear to him that there was no sign of Ratha or Rathi anywhere in it - and he was reading it through to see if Adhesive's claim had been right.

And right it was.

Another timeline, one where Hiccup found the queen's egg on Dragon Island and adopted the dragonet as his own. The Mortem in that timeline had indeed been threatened by Stoick under the belief that he would grow up to be just like his mother.

Putting the phone on the table, Snivels glanced up at his friends. "It'll take more than hiding Mortem in the woods to save him from the chief's judgment."

"Or Bigwings," added Brandyn.

Adhesive twitched as he restrained himself from taking his phone back. "There's always the cove," he pointed out. Then his shoulders slumped, and he added, "Until they get bigger, of course."

Hiccup shook his head, unable to think properly with all the pressure that kept piling on. The chief couldn't kill Mortem – he was only a baby and had merely been following his stomach to any food source he could find. But, like Snivels said, they were rarely that lucky.

"Well, I'm open to ideas," he muttered, just loudly enough for the others to hear.

"We could arrange a training session for them at the academy," Blaze suggested.

"With Stoick?" asked a skeptical Astrid.

"We always say it's worth a shot," reminded Heather.

Snivels cringed. "But our plans aren't usually Stoick-related," he said.

"What if we asked Escutcheon and Rapier for their input?" suggested Ninjark.

Sighing in defeat, Hiccup looked around the room at all his friends. "Guys, whatever we're doing, we need to do it now. There's no telling what Stoick will do to Mortem and Bigwings when he finds out about this."

No-one replied, so he slumped down in his seat. The gang prepared to keep thinking for at least a few more minutes, but it was only seconds after their conversation when someone knocked very loudly on the door.

"Hiccup! We need to talk! NOW!"

There was no mistaking the bellowing yell of the Berkian chief.

Adhesive hovered in the middle of the room with a dumbstruck look on his face. "I think it's like Beetlejuice, we said his name too many times."

Reacting by obligation, Hiccup pulled the door open to reveal his very big and intimidating father with the sternest scowl they'd ever seen. "What's this I hear about a monster raiding our food storage?" the chief asked through gritted teeth.

"I can explain," Hiccup attempted - right before Mortem raced past them, playing chase with the other dragonets. Cringing, the team leader corrected, "Actually, I can't."

Stoick stood silent for a long, terrifying moment, shaking with anger. "Great Hall," he finally said, " ** _Now_**."

Then he stomped away, giving the Red Death dragonet a look like he was trying to murder him with his eyes.

The four trainers and their Pokémon filed out of the building as the enraged Viking vanished from sight.

"That was a little too anti-climactic," complained Adhesive. He then asked, "Should I gather the secondary characters? I mean, the rest of the team?"

Hiccup shook his head. "No, this is between us and my dad."

"Not to mention," said Brandyn, "How crowded it would get with all of us in the Great Hall."

As if on cue, a large white lion Pokémon charged in from above, having spent the whole morning flying through the sunlit sky. Not waiting for his friends to recover from the small quake his landing had brought, Ra launched into spontaneous and complicated patterns of words.

"Rubber baby buggy bumpers. Rubber baby buggy bumpers. Rubber baby buggy bumpers. This is fantastically fabulous. Fortuitously felicitous. You want to know what a living nightmare is?"

A hesitant, but curious, Ninjark asked, "What?"

"Gaining a large vocabulary, an encyclopedic knowledge of the Multiverse, and being trapped in a tiny, mute, unmoving evolution!"

Brandyn offered his Solgaleo partner a half-smile. "As nice as it is that you and Camazotz are getting used to having your voices back, now's not really the best time for you two to be playing with your new vocal cords."

A beautiful Lunala floated down on the other side of the group, her eyes sparkling as brightly as her wings.

"We are aware," crooned Camazotz, "But Ra and I were only able to talk to each other as Cosmoem. And now we can talk to anyone we want!"

Not wanting to get any further off track, Hiccup offered a quick recap. "Okay, Mortem and Bigwings have raided the storehouses, leaving a bad impression on the village, we need a plan to change that before my dad starts demanding their heads."

"He seems more mad at Mortem than Bigwings," Heather observed.

It was then that Escutcheon and Rapier approached them, the former a bit slower thanks to his shield-mane weighing him down - not that he couldn't handle wielding it.

"It's a story that can be discussed on our way to the village," the Zamazenta, his gaze directed at Hiccup.

The four trainers started forward when a Silvally suddenly blocked their path.

"I'm coming with you," Buddy said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe.

"What is this, a Legendary brigade?" questioned Astrid. She rarely used sarcasm, but spending a lot of time with her husband had clearly rubbed off on her a little.

Regardless, Buddy stood firm. "Mortem is as much my responsibility as he is yours," he insisted. "I'm not dropping him."

"Then let's go!" Hiccup decided. He gave the group a signal, prompting them all to call their dragons and make a beeline for the village.

* * *

The moment the four trainers and their partners entered the Great Hall, they were bombarded with the complaints of angry Vikings.

"It's a menace!"

"It tried to eat my baby!"

"It ruined all my crops!"

"My soup is too hot!"

All eyes were on Tuffnut, who was sitting at a table with a bowl of soup. "What?" he asked, "I thought we were all shouting our problems." Sarin the Nidorino took the bowl in his mouth and dumped its contents into his trainer's lap. Maybe that would teach him to keep his stupidity to himself.

The Chief and his Beartic stepped forward, the former raising a hand to silence everyone in the hall. "I am aware of this...new development, and I can assure you all that I will handle it rightfully so. The beast will cause no further trouble to us, or anyone else."

In a low murmur, Adhesive spoke his thoughts aloud. "Punishing a dragonet for the reputation his mother left behind is very harsh, even for Stoick. At least, I think even for Stoick."

"Dad," pleaded Hiccup. "Mortem is as much a dragon as Toothless, Stormfly, and every other dragon on this island, the whole archipelago, in fact! Other than scaring the entire village, he hasn't done anything wrong!"

"He?" Stoick repeated, skeptical of the fact.

"Females are a lot more vicious than males," Buddy said in a know-it-all voice. "If Mortem were a girl, this whole island would be up in flames by now. BTW, Red Death females are pledged to mate with the male who defeats them in battle, which is not an easy feat." He then sat on his haunches with a satisfied look on his face.

With a shake of his head, Stoick told them, "That doesn't change what he did to this village. Or what he could do, for that matter."

Snivels let out a half-scoff half-laugh. "Last I checked, Mortem didn't send everyone on a suicide mission to the dragons' nest. You're the one who almost got us all killed!"

That comment sent the entire hall into an uproar. Vikings berated the Servine for speaking about the chief like that, but the Grass-type Pokémon prince didn't so much as flinch at their shouts. He didn't need to be told that he was right, he had a habit of knowing when he was.

"Enough!" bellowed Stoick over the shouts. Just like that, there was silence throughout the hall. He then eyed his son with a look of contempt. "Bring the beast to the arena. We'll carry out its sentence there."

"That's not very reassuring..." Astrid said under her breath. But even with the many anticipated mutters of the Vikings, everybody heard her speak.

The team filed out of the hall one by one. Heather, Ninjark, Brandyn, Ra and Camazotz, who had been silent the whole time, all exchanged looks of concern. They'd heard the story of the Red Death's defeat, but not explicitly.

And if it had really gone the way it was said – even if it was an exaggeration – they definitely had their work cut out for them.

* * *

The walk to the academy was an activity no one on the team was looking forward to. While it was reassuring to have Escutcheon, Rapier and the dragons guarding Mortem and Bigwings on the way, there was no escaping the inevitable 'trial.'

"The eggs will be fine," the Zamazenta insisted to his Zacian partner, who had just expressed his concern incomprehensibly around the hilt of his mouth-sword. Then, "I don't know if they're aware about 'us'!" And after a moment, "No, I don't think we _have_ to tell them."

Blaze couldn't help overhearing what Escutcheon was saying, and although it made her curious, she knew better than to ask about something that was obviously a touchy subject for the two Legendary Pokémon. Taking a quick sideways glance, the Blaziken took in her trainer's posture and asked, "Still upset about earlier?"

"How could you tell?" was Astrid's sarcastic reply.

"It's not like this is the first time it's happened," said Blaze, then adopted a more tough-as-nails voice as she mimicked Astrid. "'I'm gonna win the honor to kill that dragon!' 'No one is kissing me on the lips, ever!' 'I'm never getting married in a month of Sundays!'" Then, in her normal voice, "You're like the Queen of Eating Words around here!" She faked a cough in an attempt to cover up her snickering.

A pair of bright blue eyes met her own and glared.

"...Well, you are!" the Blaziken protested.

Ignoring their argument, Hiccup stroked his chin in deep thought, trying to apply his natural intellect to the conundrum that was staring them all in the face. There had to be something they could do – there was no way they could let Stoick hurt Mortem.

"Snivels, do you have any..." he started, only to stop when he realized the Servine's nose was stuck on the screen of Adhesive's phone - metaphorically, of course. "What are you doing?"

"Huh?" Snivels asked unconsciously before looking up. "Oh, sorry! I was just reading" - he turned the phone so Hiccup could see - "This Monsters of Berk stuff is very fascinating. You know what I like about reading? It's like you're seeing what's happening without actually seeing it. The technique is most effective when the amount of detail is just right. Like...Wings of Fire, for example. Those books can really come alive, if you know what I mean."

Adhesive floated over to see what all the talk was about. "Nice to hear you're enjoying Monsters of Berk," he said, "It's one of my favorites!"

"Perfect timing," Snivels said, tapping the screen. "I wanted to ask you about this link here." He pointed at the link that was third from the top of the quick-click list. The title of the link read 'Weird Ad.'

"Oh, that's my YouTube channel," said the Poipole. "Feel free to watch whatever you want on it. But I would advise against the video of the baby Gore Magala bursting out of a Xenomorph's chest. Long story short, it was for a Halloween bash and I ended up giving the other Ultra Guardian cadets nightmares because it was too graphic."

"Wait," Snivels said, raising a hand. "Back up. Did you say 'Gore Magala'?"

"They're actually the juvenile form of an Elder Dragon called the Shagaru Magala," Adhesive noted, then launched into an enthusiastic and informative nerd-ramble. "Both species are completely genderless, like Magneton and Klinklang, so they don't require mates in order to reproduce. The Shagaru Magala's method of reproduction has quite a few similarities to the Xenomorphs, so I figured a Gore Magala coming out of one would have a poetic justice feel to it, but not every video on YouTube is destined to be a success."

Snivels stared at the Poipole with a confused and somewhat disturbed look. "I could have gone my _whole life_ without knowing that."

"Yeah, I know," said an apologetic Adhesive. "Once I get started, it's hard for me to stop."

Snivels pressed the home button on the phone, revealing the background photo. "So, what's the story behind this, then?"

Adhesive stopped progressing, signaling Snivels to do the same so they could continue the conversation alone.

"Let's just say that was when 'perfect' became my new favorite word," the Poipole said with a happy sigh. Then he frowned. "I'm still bummed about missing the wedding, though. The one in this world, I mean. It's practically my dream to see a Hiccstrid wedding in person, and the last time that happened was, like, the fourth of Never-ary."

Keeping a cautious eye on the rest of the team, so they wouldn't fall too far behind, Snivels asked, "Well, what about all the other worlds?"

Adhesive sighed sadly before listing, "The one in the canon timeline is not for another six years or so, except in my world, where it's already happened, but I was only permitted to see it in the theatre. How to Raise a Dragon, I had to take my college final exams, so I ended up missing it. Legends are Born, the timeline mysteriously disappeared except for the dare war portion, which is really weird. Living with the Haddocks, my mother got sick and I had to take care of her. How to Become a Trainer, I had to work the evening shift to erase any possible remnants of that computer virus Hroar used to cover his tracks. Monsters of Berk," - he paused to think - "Nothing's come up yet, but, you know what they say, hope for the best and prepare for the worst." He then eyed Snivels with a grateful expression. "And honestly, no one's stuck around long enough to hear all of that."

"It's easier to make friends when you know more about them," was the Servine's reply. "Even when I don't entirely understand what they're saying, I'm more than happy to listen." He then held up the phone to the Poipole's eye level. "So, how about you teach me how to contact the Ultra Guardians?"

Adhesive smacked one of his tiny hands against his large forehead. "Of course, calling for help! I don't know how I forgot about that! Okay, so, what you wanna do is - "

"We should catch up with the others, first," said Snivels, seeing the group had advanced quite a bit without them. "Then we call for help."

"Good plan," Adhesive spat out before he took off after the group, with his new friend following with a smile.

They nearly bumped into Brandyn and Heather, but both the Servine and the Poipole managed to slow down enough to avoid a collision. Adhesive gave the two trainers a passing wink before he and Snivels continued on their way.

"So," Ra began, leaning his head in between Brandyn and his - _ahem_ \- special friend. "Cama and I couldn't help but notice you two have been rather...close to each other recently."

Brandyn gaped at him.

"We may not have been able to speak to you," said Camazotz, "But we could still hear you." She turned her smile to Heather. "You two make a very effective couple."

Ninjark, who was only half-listening, asked, "Effective what?"

Ra opened his mouth to answer, but halted when he saw Brandyn slowly shaking his head, a pleading look in his eyes.

"Nothing," the Solgaleo lied.

The Greninja looked confused, but accepted Ra's answer nonetheless.

"So, you're not gonna tell anyone?" Heather asked the Sun and Moon Legendaries.

"No," confirmed Camazotz, "We won't tell."

"But you should," Ra added.

Something bumped into his side, and the Solgaleo found Escutcheon trying to squeeze past. "Sorry," uttered the Zamazenta, weaving his way through the group (with difficulty, thanks to his shield-mane) until he reached the irritated Astrid.

"Rapier and I are aware of the impact our presence has had on your pride," Escutcheon said gently. "Perhaps you'd like to talk about it?"

"Yes," admitted Astrid, "But not with you."

Escutcheon then gestured to Hiccup with his head. "Go on, then."

As it turned out, Hiccup had a similar idea, and the two halves of the married couple ended up meeting each other halfway. Then nearly ran into each other, but they caught themselves and proceeded to walk together.

"I'm so sorry about earlier," he stated with as much sincerity as humanly possible. "I honestly wasn't sure if the air mail was going to work."

"It's fine," she insisted. "I'm actually more mad at myself than at you. I should have been more careful about what I said." She then nudged him playfully. "Besides, everyone on this team knows there's only one guy who can get to me that way."

Finding himself amused, Hiccup simply couldn't resist giving her a semi-teasing jab. "Well then, how would you feel about a romantic midday flight over the sea?" he asked with a wry grin.

With a roll of her eyes, Astrid flashed him a half-hearted grin back before saying seriously, "As much as I'd love to say yes, now's not the right time. Mortem needs every amount of protection we can give him."

The team leader made a huge show of putting his finger to his chin and humming thoughtfully, trying to make it seem as though waiting to spend time with his soul mate was far more trouble than it was worth. The theatrics were for his own personal amusement, of course – for Astrid was never more trouble than she was worth. Quite the opposite, in fact.

"Fine, it can wait," he finally allowed.

This time, his wife matched his teasing grin inch-for-inch. "You know you love me." Then, to make it less awkward, she slugged him in the shoulder.

"Do I?" he asked teasingly, giving her his own light punch on her shoulder. "Yes. Yes, I do."

That was when a certain Red Death dragon tore right past them, and the entire island seemed to be shake as he bounded toward another storehouse up ahead. A white serpentine dragonet covered in spines soon followed.

Hiccup winced at the sound of crashing barrels, tearing fabric, and the dull *thunk* of stray spines embedding in wood. When he dared to open his eyes, the place looked like a warzone.

Countless bits of wood were scattered everywhere, laundry that had been hung out to try was now in shreds, and every house you looked at had Screaming Death spines stuck in the outside walls. And in the middle of it all were Mortem and Bigwings, chowing down on salmon and roasted chicken and yak chops galore.

Team Go-Getters picked themselves up off the ground, unable to look away from the mess.

"Is it just me, or do they look bigger?" Snivels said in mild disbelief.

It wasn't just him. Hiccup recalled Mortem being around the size of two adult Gronckles standing on each other's shoulders, but now it was more like two and a half. And Bigwings had _definitely_ gotten longer by at least five to eight feet.

"WHAT IS ALL THAT NOISE?!"

Stoick's shout nearly made every creature jump about a foot in the air.

 _Oh, this is not good,_ Hiccup thought with dread.

The entire Berkian council, Pokémon included, were just about to enter the academy when they heard the commotion the dragonets had accidentally caused in their pursuit for food. The sight they found when they arrived at the source of the noise did not please the chief at all. If humans had fire, Hiccup was pretty sure Stoick would have been spewing flames out of his mouth.

"Contain that beast!" the chief commanded, pointing furiously at Mortem.

Brumous obediently stomped forward, rearing up on his hind legs.

"No!" Snivels protested.

Too late. The chief's Beartic sucked in a deep breath and released a wind with light blue sparkles in it from his mouth into the air. Small clumps of ice formed in the wind and grew longer and larger, forming into sharp icicles.

The Icicle Crash rained down around Mortem and Bigwings, some a little too close for comfort. The two dragonets bunched together as the icicles formed a makeshift cage around them. Any other dragon could have easily melted their way out, but neither Mortem nor Bigwings had mastered their fire yet.

Vikings and Pokémon alike moved in with chains, which they clamped around Mortem's legs and mouth. Feeling threatened, Bigwings lashed out at them, scattering them momentarily before they came running back to restrain him, too.

Snivels frantically tapped at the screen of Adhesive's phone, hoping that he could somehow manage to call someone, anyone, for help. But haste makes waste, and the Servine failed to get the device to do what he wanted it to.

"Dad, stop," Hiccup pleaded, "They're not dangerous! Just leave them alone!"

Toothless, Stormfly, Windshear, Buck, Verne and Wavern started forward as a whole, only to stop Stoick held up a hand to silence his son. "I've seen enough," he growled. Then, to the council, he commanded, "Cage them in the arena."

He pointed a finger at Mortem. "I want that monster executed."

* * *

 **That sneeze gag was for you, Cottonmouth. Hope it made you laugh!**

 **And Adhesive continues to just demolish the fourth wall. Too much? I can make it stop whenever.**

 **Also, Escutcheon and Rapier are closer to one another than any of you might think. That's all I'm gonna say for now.**

 **Maybe not the best kind of chapter for Halloween, but it's better than nothing. Have a spooky evening, everyone!**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Dynamic to the Max

 **Hope you're all ready for some Sword and Shield action!**

* * *

Unsure of what else they could do, Hiccup led the whole team back to their living quarters. The team leader was racking his brain trying to find a solution to this rapidly escalating problem.

Mortem, the most innocent dragonet they ever knew, was being arranged for execution the next morning.

As soon as they reached home, they found themselves greeted by the remaining Pokémon. Eying the four trainers with concern, Amber tentatively asked, "What happened down there? Or do I not want to know...?"

"Exactly what we were afraid would happen," Hiccup automatically told her, slumping against the side of the house. "My father has sentenced Mortem to death."

Crackers gasped, although it sounded more like a squeak. "H-he d-did what?!"

Shaking his head, Hiccup replied, "Mortem's being executed tomorrow morning."

"Bigwings isn't entirely off the hook," added Astrid. "As far as we know, he's just being locked up."

Snivels went to join his trainer, his whole serpentine body as slumped as one could get. "They can't do this," he moaned sadly. "They can't. Mortem's not dangerous!"

"Now would be a good time to call for help," Adhesive hinted, quite heavily, while pointing frantically at the phone the Servine still had in hand.

Muttering a barely distinguishable, "right," under his breath, Snivels unlocked the device in record speed, tapped the Contacts icon, found Ultra Guardians right at the top and pressed it.

"Didn't you say it was Retro Day?" asked Blaze. "How do you know they'll answer?"

"Landline phones are on the short list of devices that aren't prohibited on Retro Day," Adhesive answered automatically. Catching everyone's confused glances, he added, "Long story."

The group waited in silent agony as the line on the other end of the phone started ringing.

Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

Then...

" **Hello?** "

Snivels jumped back in surprise at the voice that was coming through, right when he least expected it to. However, he was sure he recognized it somehow.

"Kuro?" he asked cautiously.

" **Yes, is there a problem?** "

Adhesive silently pumped his fist in victory.

Lifting the phone closer to his mouth, Snivels spoke loudly and clearly, "This is Snivels. Adhesive lent me his phone because of Retro Day. The Red Death dragonet we call Mortem is in trouble, and we need help to save him."

" **You did the right thing,** " the Necrozma praised. " **Is Adhesive with you?** "

When the Poipole made no move to give an answer himself, Snivels took the liberty. "Yeah, he's right here. Why?"

" **He has knowledge of a power you can use to save your friend,** " was the answer Kuro gave them. " **Those Vikings won't hand over a Red Death dragonet that easily. You'll need every asset you can gather.** "

"We've tried reasoning with them," Hiccup said, almost to himself. "If that wasn't enough, we might have to do something drastic."

There was a relieved sigh from the other end. " **You four trainers may want to hear this, so stay nearby. Are the Sword and Shield with you?** "

Everyone collectively looked to Escutcheon and Rapier. The two lupine Pokémon were lying down next to the sacks that held their eggs.

Turning back to the phone, Hiccup replied, "If you mean Escutcheon and Rapier, then yes, they're right here with us."

" **Alright, listen carefully. There's a special stone somewhere on the island called a Wishing Star. It gives off an energy that enhances and enlarges the power of a Pokémon. Zacian and Zamazenta are among the few Legendaries that can find one. Find the Wishing Star, and you will be successful in your mission. I'll alert the Resistance in the meantime. Good luck.** "

"Wait, how do you know there's a Wishing Star on Berk?" asked Brandyn.

Too late. Kuro had hung up.

But at least they had an idea of what to do now. And hey had to do it fast, because the day was almost over and the execution was being, well, _executed_ , first thing in the morning.

"You know what a Wishing Star is?" Heather asked, breaking the tense silence.

"Resistance cadet," Brandyn reminded her. "I've learned more from those Pokémon than you might think."

The next question came from Snivels. "Do you know what it looks like?"

"Vaguely," the male blond confessed.

"We should start looking for it, then," stated Blaze, and took several steps toward the forest, clearly intending to start the search without waiting for anyone else's approval.

However, she was the only one who moved. Astrid, Heather and Brandyn had their eyes on Hiccup, who was emphatically shaking his head.

"Not yet," he said firmly, his tone making the Blaziken stop in her tracks. "We need to know where to look. We can't just rush in without thinking. That's what a Viking would do."

Handing Adhesive's phone to Ninjark, Snivels remarked, "He has a point. If we spend too much time looking in all the wrong places, Mortem will be dead before we have the chance to save him!"

The sound of pounding footsteps alerted them to the approaching Zamazenta. "First you need to know what a Wishing Star looks like. Care to do the honors, Brandyn?"

His voice trembling ever so slightly from excitement, the Aetherson quavered, "It's a small, bluish-purple meteoric rock with striking red circles surrounding these bumps that look like backwards craters."

Hiccup's eyes suddenly lit up with an expression that was hard to read. He then rushed into the house so fast, one would think he was a Speed Stinger in disguise. When he came out a minute later, he was cradling something in his hands.

"You mean like this?" Hiccup asked, holding out his hand to reveal a small rock that matched Brandyn's description perfectly. "Is this a Wishing Star?"

The blond Aetherson did a double take, a look of pure astonishment upon his features. "Yes, that's it. Where did you find it?"

"In the forest," the team leader answered automatically. "About seven or eight years ago..." He trailed off as he registered the exasperated looks his friends were now giving him.

"You had the Wishing Star this whole time?!" Astrid shrieked, almost as loudly as a Nadder.

"Wait," Buddy said suddenly, "You didn't know that?" Hiccup thought he was joking at first, but the look on the Silvally's face held genuine surprise.

Cheeks tinged pink with embarrassment, Hiccup cast his eyes down at the rock in his hands. "So...how can this help us?"

Chuckling a little, Escutcheon settled himself into the soft grass. "You kids might want to sit down for this," he said.

* * *

Kuro tapped a long, black, claw-like finger on his metal desk, eyeing the white landline phone Snivels had called with Adhesive's cell phone only minutes ago.

"Symbiont!" called the Necrozma, and a jellyfish-like Ultra Beast poked his head in through the door.

"What is it, boss?" asked the Nihilego in a warbling voice that sounded a lot like he was talking underwater.

Folding his hands as best he could, Kuro questioned, "Are the Golden Wheels still on standby?"

"They have been since the start of the war," Symbiont said. "You're not thinking of calling them to action, are you? They're supposed to be a last resort, in case all else fails."

Kuro was well aware of the purpose of the Golden Wheels, they had the power to make the entire Multiverse implode. Not that they would want to, anyway. It would be quite a shame for them to destroy the very thing they'd dedicated their eternal lives to creating, and maintaining the balance of.

"Just keep them on standby," Kuro ordered. "Just in case."

* * *

"Okay, so let me get this straight," said Hiccup, "There's this thing called Dynamax that increases the Pokémon's size and powers up their moves?" He held up the Wishing Star he was holding. "And this weird-looking rock is supposed to trigger it somehow?"

Escutcheon nodded. "The Wishing Stars, and the power they contain, actually come from a Pokémon called Eternatus. Their cores release excess Dynamax energy in the form of those Wishing Stars."

"But how do we use it?" asked Snivels.

The Zamazenta looked from the Servine to the Wishing Star a few times before suggesting, "You can always try touching it." When Snivels reached out to do just that, he quickly added, "But not here. I'd recommend saving it until the rescue mission."

With that information, their next action was crystal clear to Hiccup. He pulled himself to his feet and told them, "Alright, let's get ready. We might only have one shot at this, so we need to make it count."

When he extended his hand, Heather passed him a map of the arena, but she looked fidgety. Certainly, the knowledge that an innocent dragonet was set to be killed soon wasn't just affecting Snivels to an extent.

"So, what's the plan?" she asked quietly.

"We spread out," Hiccup replied without hesitance, pointing at the map. "Besides Escutcheon and Rapier, Ra and Camazotz are by far the strongest, so they'll be our last resort. They'll wait by the far entrance until someone gives the signal. Heather, you and Ninjark take the left."

"I'll go with Heather," blurted Brandyn, not caring if anyone was going to protest. When the realization of what he said caught up with him, his face turned a very impressive shade of red.

Hiccup didn't have time to question his fellow male trainer's behavior. "Astrid and Blaze will take the right. That leaves me and Snivels to go up the middle." He pointed to where the cages were on the map. "If we're lucky, we can get Mortem out of there before sunrise."

"And when was the last time everything went according to plan for us?" asked Astrid. Her tone was hard to read, was it curiosity or was she trying to make a point of some kind?

They took a moment to fully digest the given orders. It was all or nothing...they'd either get out with Mortem, or not at all. Arceus knew what Stoick would do with them if they didn't succeed in their rescue attempt. What were the consequences they'd be facing? Would the chief consider it a traitorous act and go so far as to exile his own son? That sounded almost as bad as disowning him.

"How soon until sunrise?" a certain Greninja asked.

Hiccup shook his head, not knowing the answer but willing to bet that it wasn't a comforting one. He turned his head toward the direction of the arena, then gazed farther out, imagining that he could already see Mortem in chains, being dragged into the center of the Academy with his father's axe ready to be brought down upon his neck.

"There isn't much time," the team leader them. "Toothless and I will go up there and scout ahead. You guys three stay here until I get back."

Immediately, Astrid took a step closer to his side. "I'm coming with you," she said loyally.

As much as Hiccup's heart swelled at her show of devotion, he had to shake his head and tell her otherwise. "Astrid, I appreciate it, but I need you to be my safety net."

"So you're leaving me here by myself?" she protested, her voice tight with worry. Hiccup felt a pang of guilt stab him in the chest when he heard her speak like that.

The couple stared painfully into each others' eyes for a second, neither willing to speak, until someone else interrupted.

"Uh, hello," Snivels practically snapped, such was his annoyance. "Whole group of Go-Getters here, right behind you."

Now thoroughly irritated, Astrid turned away from the moment she was having with Hiccup and actually did snap. "Snivs, you know what I meant!"

Blaze folded her arms and replied, "Yes, actually, we all do. And I want to go on record as saying we don't appreciate it."

Although Hiccup got on Toothless swiftly, he hesitated before going out to scout the path to the Academy where Mortem was being held. His worried gaze wandered over to Astrid, who looked more uncertain than he'd ever seen her. She was biting her lip and clutching one arm in her hand, her pure blue eyes fixed concernedly on his face.

"Just go..." she finally sighed, reluctantly.

Feeling a slight flutter of gratitude for her, Hiccup gave her a grateful smile before urging Toothless into the air. The Night Fury shot upwards and unfurled his wings, soaring on the ocean breeze as he gradually became nothing more than a black speck in the sky.

"Be safe," Astrid murmured to herself.

She didn't react when Blaze walked up to lay a hand on her shoulder in a show of support, but she still felt somewhat better at the gesture.

* * *

Given that there was still time before their rescue mission was carried out, Snivels decided to use it to try and make himself more familiar with Adhesive's cell phone for the sake of all the future Retro Days that were still to befall on them.

And so far, he had gotten quite good with it. He'd learned all the apps, inside and out, in record time. Now he could play games like Pokémon GO, Titan Uprising, Rumble Rush, and Rise of Berk like a pro.

And then there was the Netflix app.

"Don't go in there," whispered Snivels, clutching the phone so tightly his leafy knuckles started to turn white. "Don't go in there! _Don't go in there! **Don't go in there!**_ " Then he groaned, "Oh! She went in there! Doesn't anyone know that you're not supposed to enter a shipwreck by yourself in the dark?! You don't even know what could be hiding in those shadows!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY PHONE?!"

Snivels literally jumped about a foot in the air, his hands scrambling to keep his grip on the cell phone as he let out a startled scream. Panting heavily, his eyes made out the shape of Adhesive in the fading light, his blue eyes wide with horror and anxiety.

"Oh, my Arceus," sighed the Servine, "Don't ever do that again! You scared the crap out of me!"

But Adhesive wasn't paying attention to him. He was eyeing the small screen of his cell phone. "Race to the Edge?" he asked, horrified. "How'd you already get up to the third season?!"

"It's easy once you eliminate all the filler episodes," Snivels answered in a remarkably calm demeanor.

The Poipole shook his head frantically. "No, you can't be watching that! Who knows what'll happen if any of you guys find out what will happen in the future!" Letting out a gasp, he buried his face in his tiny purple hands. "Oh, Kuro's gonna kill me!"

"I highly doubt that," said a supportive Snivels.

"You don't understand," Adhesive whimpered, "Knowledge of future events leads to a disruption in the balance of the Multiverse, which in turn could lead to absolute chaos and the end of all things as we know it!"

However, the Poipole had a history of being melodramatic, mainly in the Hiccstrid department, so Snivels wasn't really fazed as much as Adhesive thought he would be.

At about that time, Blaze went and poked her head into the room. "Hiccup's returned from scouting, says the path is clear. We'll be leaving shortly." Then she noticed how wide-eyed Adhesive was. "What are you two doing?" she asked with a furrowed brow.

"Nothing," Adhesive said quickly, his voice squeaking a little.

The Blaziken took one look at his nervous expression and left the room.

* * *

Hiccup and Toothless had only flown so far – the Academy was very visible in the distance – when they saw the last rays of sun sinking over the horizon. They had to move now, and not a minute later.

They flew right back to the team's living quarters, just in time to see everyone gathering outside in the clearing. The many Pokémon standing at attention lifted Hiccup's spirits a little, seeing how many of his friends were ready to support him and his plan, but he hadn't thought out all the details of possible assignments for so many members.

With a pat to Toothless's muzzle, Hiccup landed in front of the group, sitting up as straight as humanly possible. His voice carried across the clearing with a boldness he didn't know he had.

"The way to the Academy is clear, as far as we could see. But that doesn't mean this will be easy. That place will be crawling with guards, and they won't hand Mortem over so easily. Stick to what you know, and work together. We only get one shot at this, so we need to make it count. Everyone ready?"

Shouts of agreement reached his ears, too many for him to count, but he could hear Snivels's voice above all the rest.

"Let's go save our friend!"

With that, everyone went to mount up.

Well, almost everyone.

Escutcheon and Rapier had insisted for one member of the team stay behind and watch their eggs, and the only one who was willing to volunteer was Fossilwing, the Aerodactyl the team had fought, and befriended, back at the Ice Caves.

Okay, not entirely willingly. Brandyn had to bribe his prehistoric companion with an assortment of his favorite Poké Puffs to get him to comply.

Additionally, the Zacian and Zamazenta were much too large and heavy for any of the dragons to carry them. And they couldn't fly like Ra and Camazotz, so they had to resort to traveling on foot.

The overall trip to the Academy was relatively short, with a few close calls here and there, thanks to the Berkian guards that were patrolling in case someone tried to intervene with the planned execution of "the Great Hideous Beast," as they so eloquently put it.

Ra, Camazotz, Escutcheon, and Rapier waited at the entrance to the long tunnel-like path that led toward the domed arena, just as Hiccup had planned. The rest of the team snuck ahead to take their respective positions, but they couldn't help overhearing some of the guards' chitchat as they went about their rounds.

"Welp, the chief's orders have gone without argument," one of the Vikings grinned, taking his position right beside the door to the arena's largest cage. "How long until the big moment? That monster's giving me the willies."

Briefly unfurling his wings, Toothless let out a quiet growl, undoubtedly registering the words as eagerness and relief towards Mortem's death. Hiccup stood up and extended his arm, waving the black dragon off.

"Stoick said at the break of dawn," said the other guard, his eyes drooping a little from tiredness. "He wants to do it himself, you know. Said he finally wants to make right what the monster's mother did to his boy."

"But what about that Servine?" asked Guard One. "You think maybe he mighta been on to something back in the Hall?"

Guard Two shook his head. "Nobody argues with the chief, not unless they wanna end up on that execution block themselves. Or worse, exiled. There's no worse punishment than being forced to live in shame."

Hiccup stayed frozen in position for as long as he could, trying desperately to ignore the chilling feeling that was cascading down his spine, like someone had just dumped a bucket full of ice cubes into the back of his shirt. He watched Snivels's eyes narrow, focusing directly on the Vikings and their glinting weapons. They could see their friends scooting off toward the sides, waiting for the right moment.

Then the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps reached their ears, and they collectively ducked into the shadows in time to avoid being spotted by Spitelout, who came running into the arena with a determined look on his face.

"Change of plans," Snotlout's father stated to the two guards. "The monster's being executed tonight."

Gasping in surprise, Hiccup clapped a hand over his own mouth, praying silently to Arceus that nobody in the arena had heard him. Had Stoick lied to them about the execution happening the following morning? Not likely. He'd probably moved up the date out of spite towards Mortem's mother.

"Are you sure?" asked Guard One. "I was told it wasn't happening 'til tomorrow."

"He's the chief," Spitelout snapped, "He can change his mind when he wants to. Now, where is it?"

"In here," said Guard Two, pointing at the giant wooden door he and the other Viking had been guarding.

Spitelout unlocked the big doors and opened them just enough to peek one eye in so he could see the chained and muzzled Mortem cowering in the corner with a sad look in his six small eyes. The Viking shut the doors with an echoing *bang* and locked them tightly. "Not one thing gets in or out of that cage until Stoick gets here," he growled threatingly.

He didn't wait to see the guards nodding obediently before leaving them to their job.

Hiccup took one look around the outside of the arena to read his friends' expressions. Snivels was giving Spitelout's retreating form a glare so sharp, it would have pierced his heart like a knife. Astrid's stare was neutral, but Hiccup knew her well enough to know she was doing an expert job of repressing her horror. The Blaziken standing beside the blonde looked disappointed with a dash of spite, Heather had turned so pale she looked sick, Ninjark was wringing his hands vigorously enough to make them fall off, and Brandyn had his head buried in his hands.

"Okay, we need a new plan," Hiccup sighed.

Adhesive flew in right then and there, having been alerted by the sight of Spitelout arriving, and leaving, the Academy in such a hurry. "I'm assuming something bad has just occurred," he said, panting a little.

"They've moved up Mortem's execution date," Snivels said with an angry snarl. "It's happening tonight."

"Oh, joy," the Poipole whimpered. "So, what's the plan for getting past the ugly, smelly guards, fearless leader?"

Hiccup didn't take the time to complain about the 'fearless leader' nickname, his mind working to formulate even a fraction of a solution to this new problem that was staring them right in the face. Finally, a suitable idea clicked.

"Live bait."

"Good idea," was Adhesive's automatic answer before he quickly caught on to the implications of that phrase. "Hey!"

Gesturing with his arms, Hiccup persuaded, "Look, it's simple. You just have to fly in there and create a diversion."

To which the Poipole replied, with an uncharacteristically heavy amount of sarcasm, "What do you want me to do? Dress in drag and do the hula?"

* * *

Eventually, Adhesive's determination to play a part in Mortem's rescue in one way or another drove him to come up with a decent distraction to keep the guards' eyes off of the doors. They could all hear Mortem's whimpers from outside, and they were not helping their nerves. They'd never felt so tense in all their lives.

For the umpteenth time, the guards glanced up at the sky. Instead of the usual cloud or two, they found an alien-looking purple Pokémon with a nervous smile on his face.

"Hey, you're a wonderful crowd here tonight!" Adhesive forced out, holding an imaginary microphone in one of his hands. "Where y'all from?"

A long, uneasy pause.

"Well, that's great," Adhesive continued, a little less enthusiastically. "Y'know, I used to have an ant farm, but I had to get rid of it because...I couldn't find tractors that small!"

Another prolonged silence. The only movement he got out of the guards was one of them raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Get it?" Adhesive tried. "Tractors that small?" He got no answer, so he proceeded with the next joke. "The other day, I spilled spot remover on my dog...and now I can't find him!"

Again, no reaction.

"Wow," he uttered to himself, "Tough crowd."

"What is this?" snapped the second guard. "Some kind of joke?"

It would have been funny if the situation wasn't so serious.

"Alright," Adhesive sighed, "I've tried doing things the Hiccup way, now I gotta try the Astrid way."

He didn't give the guards enough time to recognize the implications of that phrase before he launched into a Fury Attack, jabbing at their skin, both armored and exposed, with the nozzle on his head.

Both guards cried out in pain as the long, pointy end pierced them again and again, not enough to break the skin, but the pain it was causing was the near-equivalent to a maniac stabbing them with a dagger.

A good, hard blow to their heads from the Fury Attack knocked them both right out. They slumped to the ground like two drunk friends, eyes rolling in the back of their heads and their mouths hanging open.

Seeing them down, Adhesive promptly stopped his assault. "Well, that was an adventure."

The sound of footsteps brought his attention to his approaching friends, many of whom looked amazed at what had just occurred.

"Excellent work, Ad," Hiccup breathed, running to the door that held Mortem trapped in his own fear. He heard the words, "Stand back," before a taloned fist collided with the mechanism that controlled the lock on the cage door.

There was a *click* and the lock slid out of place, allowing the doors to swing open naturally.

Despite everything Hiccup had prepared himself for, the sight of Mortem's condition made his heart sink.

The poor dragonet had been fitted with a fireproof muzzle that had only three small holes for him to breathe through, and about ninety percent of him was covered with thick, heavy chains. He looked hungry and scared.

This was not a monster.

This was a terrified and helpless baby that needed to be taken far, far away from this heckish prison.

Hiccup didn't know how much time they had until Spitelout returned with Stoick, so he called out for everyone to grab a chain and pull. Hopefully, they could lead Mortem out of the arena before his father arrived to kill him.

* * *

A Sobble paced back and forth nervously, waiting for his friends to make it out of the Academy. Compared to the four Legendary Pokémon standing nearby, he looked like a tiny blue bug.

The sound of pounding footsteps prompted Crackers to excrete the water from his internal supply through the pores of his skin, making his camouflage kick right in so he could disappear from view. The other Pokémon ducked into the shadows and watched as Stoick, Gobber and Spitelout marched past their hiding place toward the arena, Brumous and Norward not far behind. They passed right by the hidden Sobble, who remained absolutely still so they wouldn't see him.

The blade of the gigantic axe that Stoick held in his hand glinted threateningly in the moonlight. It had been sharpened enough to slice through the thick skin of Mortem's neck like it were made of butter.

"We have to do something," Crackers decided as soon as the five were out of earshot. "I'm sick of watching helplessly from the sidelines as our friends do all the work trying to save one of our own. I'm a part of this team, I have to contribute somehow, even if it means facing a terrifying, stone-hearted monster."

"Monster is a relative term," stated Buddy. "To a canary, a cat is a monster." The Silvally gestured with his head down the path Stoick had just taken. "Vikings are just used to being the cat."

Crackers looked frightened for a moment before his expression hardened. "I still want to try," he said.

"Then you're first," said Ra, kicking Adhesive's duffel bag over to the Sobble. There were still quite a lot of Rare Candies in it.

"First for what?" asked Xylia.

"You wanna take things to the next level," said the smiling Solgaleo, "Then you go take things to the next level."

* * *

By the time Hiccup and the gang had gotten Mortem out of the arena, the three Vikings had arrived to carry out the execution. The four trainers had also taken the liberty of moving the unconscious guards into an empty cage that was adjacent to Mortem's.

"Where did those slug-brains go off to now?" Spitelout asked, irritated at the guards' unexplained absence. "Don't they know they're shift's not over yet?"

Gobber flashed him a look that said, _Does it really matter?_

Above the arena, everyone had crouched down low behind the stone-carved throne Stoick had sat in to witness Hiccup's confrontation with Hookfang, the shadows of the night providing the extra effect they needed to hide from the angry Vikings.

The chief flung the door to Mortem's cage open with a *bang*. All four trainers, their Pokémon, and even the Red Death dragonet sat quite still, listening intently.

Silence...then -

"Where is it?" demanded Stoick. "Where is the beast?!"

"It was right in there!" said Spitelout furiously. "I saw it with my own eyes!"

There was a swishing noise, and the *thud* of an axe. The chief seemed to have swung it into the cage door in anger.

"Hiccup," he whispered huskily. "He's the only one who could have pulled it off."

Taking this as their cue to leave, Hiccup grabbed at one of the heavy chains and tugged it with all his might. For someone of his size and stature, it was a near impossible task. Still, it had the desired effect - Mortem took a step in the direction in which the chain had been pulled.

They could always come back for Bigwings. Getting Mortem out of there was their number one priority.

But, as per usual, just when it looked like they were home free, something had to go wrong.

Two big guards stood blocking the way, crossing their weapons to forbid them from passing by. "Where do you think you're going?" one of them growled.

All they got in response was a frightened whimper from Mortem.

A blue ball of water suddenly hit Guard Three in the head, dousing his greasy hair. A slim, blue lizard with an odd haircut materialized from the shadows and Sucker Punched both guards in the face. As if that wasn't enough, a white, red and black rabbit kicked Guard Four in the back of the head with his strong legs and a light green monkey knocked Guard Three out with the two sticks he kept in his hair.

Defeated, the two guards fell to the ground with a *thump*.

Snivels squinted at one of the newcomers. "Crackers?"

The Drizzile gazed at the Servine through his hair and winked.

A large white lion and a giant purple bat came rushing in. "Let's get Mortem out of here!"

They didn't need to be told twice. The noise had attracted the attention of the three Vikings in the arena, and who knows how mad Stoick would be if he caught them.

Moving unnaturally fast with all the chains still on Mortem, the team barely made it halfway out when the sound of pounding footsteps warned them that there were more guards heading their way.

"We're trapped," muttered Hiccup. He unconsciously reached into his pocket and pulled out the Wishing Star. "Now's as good a time as any to give this a try."

Stoick was running the fastest. He had no desire to let such a horrible monster escape under his nose. "Get back here, you great hideous beast!" he bellowed, almost loud enough for the dragonet to actually hear despite the distance between them.

Suddenly, a humongous seed came flying in, planting in the pavement in front of the chief, from which erupted a giant green mushroom. Skidding to a halt, the only thing that a befuddled Stoick to utter was, "What in Odin's eye?"

"LET THE DRAGONET GO!" shouted a booming voice.

The Vikings look up, up, up at a gigantic Pokémon that stood more than fifty feet tall, glowing faintly with a red aura. A trio of red clouds circled the space above the Dynamaxed Snivels's head as he spoke. "IF YOU WANT TO SEE A REAL MONSTER, GO LOOK IN THE MIRROR!"

There was a *thud* as a totally shocked Spitelout fainted, in a very undignified manner I'm pleased to say.

But this didn't seem to shake up the Berkian chief all that much. Instead, he narrowed his eyes with determination and ordered, "Hand over the beast!"

And then, the gigantic Servine leaned as far down as he could without falling over. "OH, YOU WANT HIM?" he called down tauntingly. "COME AND GET HIM, SHRIMPY!"

All at once, the Dynamaxed Pokémon scooped up the chained dragonet with his tail and fired another giant seed at the arena. It crashed right through the door to one of the cages, and Bigwings came flying right out a moment later. Satisfied, Snivels turned toward the exit, easily making it out in five giant steps.

"You know," said Astrid as she and Blaze mounted Stormfly. "I can think of quite a few situations where we could have used this." _Like the battle on Dragon Island,_ she added in her thoughts. _How different would that have turned out if we had Dynamax? Or Mega Evolution? Would we have defeated the queen sooner?_

 _...Would Hiccup still have his leg?_

"Believe me, I was thinking the same thing, too," Hiccup replied.

The whole group collectively took off on their dragons, following the Dynamaxed Servine toward home.

But their problems weren't done for the day.

With a might war cry, every abled warrior on Berk came running towards the Dynamaxed Servine, weapons raised high. Then a pair of lupine Pokémon came charging in, brandishing their sword and shield to keep the angry Vikings at bay. A green blur sprinted up the middle, slicing through the Vikings' wooden shields with her Leaf Blade and knocking them off their feet wither her branch-like tail. Next came a large blue amphibian, who slammed his fist to the ground, making it quake with tremendous force.

"Who's the safety net now?!" Xylia the Sceptile proclaimed, leading Palus the Swampert in for another attack run.

Before she could, though, it seemed as though someone else had other ideas.

A beam of bright light burst from above the clouds, raining down upon them as an almighty voice boomed, " **ENOUGH!** "

The white creature reared its head as high as it could, then plunged straight down, slowing drastically before landing gracefully onto the ground. Its golden wheel gleamed like real gold in the light, and it was balanced on the tips of its equally golden hooves.

"Arceus," breathed an amazed Adhesive.

As if on cue, several other beings rained down from the heavens. Many of them were white like the first, but a few of them were as golden as their wheels.

One of the golden Arceus came to rest beside the first, and the pair nuzzled each other's head affectionately before the white one addressed everyone present.

"This has gone far enough," said Archon, but not to Team Go-Getters. "Even a blind man could see that poor dragonet is no danger to anyone who's not a fish. Release him at once, or we'll have no choice but to have you face the combined Judgment of the Golden Wheels."

Instantaneously, all the Vikings discarded their weapons and scrambled back into their homes.

Stoick, who had just arrived, stood dumbfounded at the sight of such a magnificent Pokémon.

"That goes for you, too, chief," Archon commanded with a glare.

The still-giant Snivels lowered his tail to the ground so Mortem, who was still in his restraints, could climb off, just before the effects of the Wishing Star wore off and the Servine shrank back to his normal size. "We know you hate to admit when you're wrong," he said. "But holding a grudge against a harmless dragonet? That's low, even for you. Whether you like it or not, what happened on that island happened, and you can't change it no matter what you do. All of this chaos around you? It's all because you wouldn't listen. Again. Look at him" - he pointed to Mortem - "Does that look like a monster to you?"

Sighing, Stoick let the axe fall from his hand. "No," he admitted. "It doesn't." Then he trudged away without another word.

A few Multi Attacks from Buddy was all it took to get Mortem's restraints off. The Red Death dragonet spun around in a circle, delighted to be free. The Silvally locked eyes with his father and whispered, "Thank you."

Archon gave a brief nod, then turned to Astrid and said in amusement, "Nice pendant."

Unconsciously, the former Hofferson reached up and grasped at the golden wheel pendant around her neck that matched the one on the Arceus.

"Before I forget," said Hiccup, "How did you change the pendant?"

Archon gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Even omnipotent beings like ourselves don't fully understand the extent of our powers, young hero."

With that, the whole group departed into the sky, the blinding light disappearing along with them.

* * *

The whole team ended up sleeping until noon the next day. They were all awake until late last night making sure that Mortem and Bigwings were okay, and even later anxiously discussing what was awaiting them in the Viking village.

Eventually, they had to go out and face the world.

And face it, they did.

There was another meeting in the Great Hall, and this one had gone very much better than the last.

"In light of the recent events," Stoick had announced, "We have all agreed that the dragonet known as Mortem is not a threat to our community. He may go wherever he wishes on Berk, so long as he is being supervised."

"And?" Snivels had prompted.

After a sigh, the chief had added, "And I am sorry for everything that I have done."

That was an hour ago. Now, the entire team had gathered to see Escutcheon and Rapier off. The two Pokémon had already packed for their journey back to the Ice Caves, their eggs tucked safely into the satchels the two Warrior Pokémon had brought them in.

The unasked question Hiccup had had since he first learned of the eggs buzzed around his head like a pesky bug as he stepped toward the two. "So, where are the mothers?"

"There are none," Escutcheon said quickly. Most likely, he'd had that answer prepared from the beginning. "There were, though. Our wives laid them shortly before we went into battle against a powerful Shadow Pokémon. We won in the end, but both of our wives died of their wounds. Rapier and I only had each other for comfort, and though we never fully got over it, we eventually realized that we loved each other more than we ever loved our wives, so we married. And now we're going to be fathers together." He leaned down and nosed some of the eggs.

Slowly, the gears in Hiccup's head started to turn as he registered what the Zamazenta had just said. When Escutcheon told the team that Rapier was his partner, he had assumed that he meant they'd been partnered for the mission. But now he realized just how mistaken he was.

"So, you mean..."

"Yes," said Escutcheon with an unembarrassed smile. "Rapier is my husband."

The two female trainers stared at the Zamazenta as though he'd grown a second head. They were too stunned to process exactly what they'd just heard - until the impact of his words dawned on them all at once, and they opened their mouths to scream in unison.

"WHAT?!"

In contrast to the girls' cry of shock, Brandyn spoke calmly and informatively.

"It's more common than you'd think. Some creatures find love in others of the same gender, or identify themselves as the opposite of their birth gender and go through a lengthy transition. It's astounding just how many transgender Marill you can find in this archipelago alone."

The Aetherson then directed at the two Warrior Pokémon, "Good luck. Not just with work, but your eggs, too."

Escutcheon opened his mouth to respond, but was rendered speechless when he noticed what Rapier was doing.

The Zacian leaned his head down and allowed the sword to slip out of his mouth. Landing on the ground, the weapon shrank into a much less grandiose form that was mostly covered in rust, but had some faded blue standing out among the dull color.

Rapier changed, too. His armor lifted away to reveal messy, azure fur, long matching coral red braid-like fur bangs, and a body decorated with multiple scars and scratches.

Now free to speak without the interference of a held item, the Zacian smiled at the four trainers and said, "We look forward to working with you more in the future." Then he leaned his head down and took the Rusted Sword in his mouth, instantly changing back into his Crowned Sword form.

A half hour later, the whole team was back at their living quarters, adjusting back to their usual daily schedules.

If you could call them usual, anyway.

Snivels was adding a dozen or so fish to the already-giant pile of seafood for Mortem and Bigwings to guzzle down to their hearts' content when he overheard a certain Poipole nerding out.

"I can't believe I actually got to witness a Pokémon Dynamaxing!" Adhesive exclaimed as he scanned through the photos app on his phone. "I wish I could have gotten picture of it!"

"What are you doing, anyway?" Snivels asked, trying to sneak a peek.

"Choosing a new wallpaper for my phone screen," the Poipole replied before his expression turned grim. "By the way, this is for you." He handed the Servine a pamphlet.

Seeing the urgent lettering on the front, Snivels pulled Adhesive to the other side of the clearing so they could speak in private. "What is all this? A-a mind erasing, future event coverup? I mean is all this really necessary?"

Adhesive shrugged.

"Wait a minute!" Snivels said suddenly, scanning the written words. "It says right here in your silly little pamphlet that if a counterpart founds out about the future of the canon timeline, then everyone who's been made aware has to have their memory erased, to preserve the balance. Adhesive, I don't have a counterpart in the canon timeline!"

Now the Poipole looked nervous.

Snivels sighed, "I know, I know, it's a technicality. Listen, I don't want you to get in trouble, but I also do not want my mind erased. I know that Splice is supposed to be a professional, but there's always a chance he might accidentally erase the wrong memory, or make me forget something really important by mistake. So, what do you say? Can we keep this a secret?"

Adhesive took the pamphlet back from him, read it over, then smiled. "I don't see why not." He then lowered his phone to show the picture he'd pull up on screen. "So, what do you think of this one?"

It was a Hiccstrid kiss, of course, but they were both dressed in snow-white wedding attire and wearing crowns made of flowers and branches and other plant material.

"I think it's perfect," said the Servine, smiling like there was no tomorrow.

Near the house, Flare jumped into a backflip and landed perfectly on his feet. "Look, guys!" exclaimed the Raboot, "I'm much more athletic now!"

"Believe me, we've noticed," was all Crackers said before he flipped a cracker into his own waiting mouth. His timidness as a Sobble had been replaced by the natural laziness of a Drizzile.

Trommel, meanwhile, was honing in on his species' natural percussion skills. The Thwackey was using his two sticks to alternate drumming on a rock and a tree stump, and he was really getting into it, too.

The three Galar starters weren't the only ones examining their new evolved forms. Palus and Xylia were impressed with themselves, too.

"Looking kinda tough, huh?" asked the Swampert as he flexed his arms. "Nice and strong! Not that I'm trying to brag, though."

"I don't want to brag, either," said the Sceptile, "But I feel really, _really_ cool."

Ninjark was suddenly there, draping an arm around his girlfriend. "Cool and pretty," said the Greninja, "I like that combination."

Apart from the rest of the group, Hiccup was leaning against the side of the house, staring up at the sky. He heard footsteps approaching, and came out of his thoughts in time to see Astrid stand beside him and place a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked him concernedly.

He nodded. "Of course."

"Do you ever wish you still had your leg?" Astrid asked, shifting a little.

Hiccup instinctively gazed down at his prosthetic. It was true, he had wished he still had both legs intact quite a few times since he found out he'd lost it. But he had also thought about all that he had accomplished since that day, and he knew exactly how to answer her question.

"I used to. But I wouldn't change what happened to me one bit. I can travel a lot further with just one than I ever could with both."

His answer made them both smile.

* * *

 _Secrets can never stay hidden. But no matter how out of control things get, you know you can count on those close to you to hold you up and help you through it all._

 _Because friendship is one thing you can keep forever._

* * *

 **The whole family's back together for Christmas! Happy holidays, everybody!**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: The Sound of Sirens

 **This episode is dedicated to fellow fanfiction writer, my personal friend, and the owner of Batwings, Cottonmouth25.**

* * *

 _Love is a powerful thing. It's what you feel when you look at someone you trust – like your father or your best friend._

 _But occasionally, someone comes along that induces a much stronger feeling in you. And when they do, you'll risk anything to stay by their side, forever and always._

* * *

It had been a full week since the incident with Mortem and Bigwings's growth spurt hungers, and the big upset that had followed. Now both dragonets were well around twice the size they were at that time, and still growing, of course.

Today, the sun was shining over the academy. The dragons were lounging around without a care in the world, the dragonets were playing nicely together, and Team Go-Getters were gathered around for their daily training session.

Or at least most of them were. Crackers, on the other hand, was lounging in the corner munching away from a bag full of snack food.

"He eats more than Mortem and Bigwings combined," Ninjark observed. "How does he not look like a tick about to pop?"

"He has a high metabolism," said Snivels. "Apparently, it runs in his family."

The trim Drizzile threw the empty sack aside. "These are just choices," he insisted, "I can stop whenever I want to."

Well, now someone had to go and get more snacks. And the only team member who had yet to volunteer that week was Adhesive.

"Who wants what?" asked the Poipole as he flew out through the only exit...

...Only to scream in utter terror as a part of the shadows formed a clawed hand and grabbed him!

A second hand materialized, covering Adhesive's mouth, as the rest of the body appeared. The black shadow stared at his captive with one eerie blue eye peeking out from behind the fog-like plume that covered most of his face like a mop of shaggy white hair.

The Darkrai waited about a minute for Adhesive to calm down before releasing him. The Poipole floated up to the Pitch-Black Pokémon's eye level before letting out a relieved sigh. "Phobetor." Then he shuddered. "Can't you just say 'hello' like anybody else?"

Instead of answering, Phobetor asked in a voice that sounded a lot like a deep, haunting whisper, "Are you familiar with a Legendary Pokemon that answers to the name Millennium?"

"Should I be?" asked Adhesive.

Phobetor handed the Poipole a drawing of a skeletal-looking dragon with a red, glowing core.

"A family of Eternatus joined the Resistance in the early years of the Viking-Dragon War," said the Darkrai. "In return, Millennium donated fragments of his power to other Pokémon in the form of Dynamax Dens and Wishing Stars. Not too long ago, his wife, Century, was caught by a trainer in another world, having been lured there by some paranoid chairman by the name of Rose. Their daughter, Decade, fell into depression, leaving her vulnerable to Dark Matter. Once Millennium found out what was occurring, he surrendered himself to Dark Matter on the condition that his daughter remained unharmed. We've just received word from our scouts that he and some other Shadow Pokémon have been closing in on a local community of Sirens. We were unanimous in the idea that Team Go-Getters should assume the task of protecting the dragons."

Speechless for once, Adhesive just stared at the drawing of Eternatus.

* * *

That same drawing lay upon the wooden table set up in the middle of the Academy. The four trainers and their Pokémon partners examined it for a good, long while, before Hiccup finally decided, "We're going."

"You've got to be kidding," Blaze sighed. "The bogeyman tells Cellphone Kwami about Shadow Pokémon attacking a Siren community, and we go running why?"

"Because I trust Adhesive," Hiccup replied, unfazed. "And the Resistance. They wouldn't have sent anyone here if they didn't think it was important."

Snivels took another look at the drawing. "We've dealt with a Shadow Pokémon before," he said dejectedly. "But facing one possessing the kind of power Millennium has? I don't like to use the word hopeless, but it might actually work here."

"Which is why you'll need help."

Hovering near the entrance was a gigantic serpent, ghostly in nature, with a grey body festooned with bone-like pieces of golden armor. Sinuous black tentacles tipped with red spikes sprouted from its back, six of them in total. Eyes that glowed crimson peered out from its gold-armored head, glaring imposingly down at the assorted creatures.

"Drageist," greeted Hiccup, somehow completely unintimidated by the great dark one hovering menacingly over them all. "What brings you here on such a lovely morning?"

The Origin Forme Giratina gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Funny as your sarcasm is, I must inform you that this task is one Team Go-Getters won't be able to complete alone." He unfurled one of his appendages, revealing his Griseous Orb. The angular piece lifted up into the air, and several shimmering doorways to other worlds started opening up around it.

"Trainers of Destiny," Drageist announced in a firm voice, "Pick an ally you can trust to assist you on this mission. Choose wisely; each individual possesses different strengths and weaknesses. Once the mission is over, you must bring them to me so I can send them back to their home world."

Bedazzled by the display, Hiccup took a step back, away from the portals. He was still unnerved from the Mastermind incident. "With all due respect, I'm still trying to get used to this whole other worlds thing."

"Well," said Drageist, "Looks like you're going to be stepping outside your comfort zone, then, Stutler." He offered the confused trainer an amused smile.

Stuttering a little from the situation's escalating unfamiliarity, the team leader choked out, "We're gonna need a moment to talk about this."

He signaled the others to huddle up, which they did.

Snivels was the first to voice his opinion. "If we're getting up close and personal with Sirens, then Batwings is the logical choice."

"Not to mention the obvious one," added Heather.

"But he had his memory wiped," Astrid reminded them. "It would take more time to explain what's going on than it would take us to get there."

"Maybe not," said Brandyn, "Splice, and other Mewtwo, for that matter, can restore memories that he has previously erased."

Ra grumbled, "Why do they get all of the good stuff?"

"Guys," said Hiccup firmly, "Snivels has a point. None of us have dealt with Sirens in this universe so far, and having one on our side could be our best chance of getting around without being swarmed. We can explain everything to Batwings on the way, if we have to."

They shared a collective nod before breaking the huddle.

"We've decided," Hiccup said to Drageist, an anticipating smile coming into existence. "We choose Batwings."

Drageist pointed a claw at one of the shimmering portals, and it opened wider. After several suspenseful seconds, a winged humanoid came tumbling in through the doorway to the Monsters of Berk universe.

"What in Odin's eye just happened?" wondered the blond Siren. "One minute I'm riding the thermals, and the next I'm on the floor of the Academy?"

"Sorry for the rough ride," said Drageist. "But a certain team of young heroes is in need of your assistance today. Splice!"

The Giratina moved his ghostly streamers to reveal the grey humanoid with a long, purple tail that had been levitating behind him unnoticed. The Mewtwo raised a hand toward Batwings, his fierce eyes glowing white with psychic energy.

In an instant, all of the Siren's repressed memories resurfaced, flashing before his wide eyes. The first encounter with HtBaT Hiccup and Snivels and Toothless, meeting Ratha and Rathi, traveling between worlds, fighting the Mastermind's army of villains, helping defeat the Red Fatalis, and saying his final farewell to...

"Team Go-Getters!"

Looking over his shoulder, Batwings met the eyes of a Servine whose identity he'd only just recovered the memory of. Snivels offered him a friendly smile and a casual wave of the hand. "Hey, Batwings."

"If my memory serves me right," said Batwings, "It's been a while since I last saw any of you." He pulled himself to his feet and flapped his wings experimentally. His sharp dragon eyes caught the blond male that would have perfectly served as his reflection if it weren't for his lack of dragon features. The Siren pointed a clawed finger at him and asked, "Who's that?"

"Brandyn Aetherson," the blond male replied, reaching out for a handshake. "Basically, I'm the equivalent of you in this universe."

Batwings eyed him suspiciously as he extended his hand to accept the gesture.

There was a bit of movement from the still-open portal before a large green birdlike figure came crashing through, tripping over his own feet and falling right on top of Batwings.

"Mocktalk found Batwings!" squawked the Qurupeco. "Mocktalk's turn to hide now!"

"This isn't a game," the Siren snapped from underneath the weight of his Monstie's bulk. "Drageist brought us here to help our friends, and that's exactly what we're going to do." He took one look at the Qurupeco's bewildered expression and added, "As soon as Splice gives you your memory back."

Astrid went to grab her trusty axe. "Well, we've got ourselves a Siren. We should start packing while Drageist fills them in."

"You just read my mind, my lady," Hiccup replied. He then beckoned Toothless over and added, "You guys get your things ready. I sill have a few questions for Drageist. Ra and Camazotz can stay and keep watch over the academy."

The group nodded unanimously. All of them, that is, except for the two Legendary Pokémon.

"Are you KIDDING me?!" the Solgaleo roared. "Haven't any of you learned by now that Legendary Pokémon like us prefer to be where the action is?!"

Hiccup let out another sigh. "Ra, you and Camazotz are among the strongest team members we have, so it's crucial that you stay. What if there's a commotion while we're gone?"

With a huff, the Solgaleo turned tail and walked to the other side of the academy.

Trying to lighten the mood, Camazotz offered, "It might be fun. We can look after the dragonets and baby Pokémon while they're away! After all, they're so adorable!"

Ra turned his head to the left, where the team members' babies stared at them with wide-eyed, barely-contained excitement. Besides the Night and Light Fury dragonets, there was Fearless the Flightmare, Torch and his siblings, Glory the Changewing, Earthcracker the Whispering Death, Lockheed the Speed Stinger, Clay the Mudraker, Tsunami the Tide Glider, Mortem and Bigwings, Blaze and Kickin' Hawk's children, and the Noibat trio, consisting of Ruido, Onpa and Laetio.

"Sure," grumbled Ra. "Babysitting. Fun."

* * *

And that was how the four trainers, minus two Pokémon partners and plus one Siren on a Qurupeco, found themselves flying in their usual formation over the open ocean. Hiccup was in the lead, naturally, and had a map spread out on the saddle in front of him. He was charting the quickest route to where Drageist had said the Isle of Sirens was, and was delighted to see that it would only be a twenty-minute flight at the longest.

"Hey, Batwings?" asked Snivels. "I was wondering - why do you fly a monster when you already have wings?"

"Well," the Siren replied, leaning forward a little to meet the Servine's eyes, "You know that amazing, indescribable feeling that you get when you're riding on dragonback, free as a bird?"

"Yep," the Grass-type Pokémon prince affirmed.

Smirking, Batwings finished, "On Mocktalk, I get to feel that without doing any work."

"Batwings," said Adhesive as he slowed down to the speed Mocktalk was flying at, "I respect you making flying more enjoyable for yourself. And there's really only one thing that can make flying better." He didn't wait for anyone to ask before taking out his phone and making a selection.

 _I can't write one song that's not about you_  
 _Can't drink without thinkin' about you_  
 _Is it too late to tell you that_  
 _Everything means nothing if I can't have you?_

While the Poipole was bobbing along to the beat, the dragons struggled to hold their formation as they looked back to see where the sound was coming from. This was nothing like the music made by Vikings.

"Adhesive, could you please turn that off?" asked Brandyn. "It's very distracting."

Disappointed that his fun had been ruined, Adhesive shut his phone off, effectively silencing it. "Come on, everybody likes that song!"

"He didn't say we didn't," Heather said, "Just find some other way to entertain yourself."

Okay, that was a very reasonable request. It was only a minute later when Adhesive started entertaining himself in a different fashion.

" _I am the type who is liable to snipe you  
With two seconds left to go - _"

"Adhesive," Blaze interrupted calmly. "Something from this century, maybe?"

"I only know one song from this age of time that doesn't have the word 'Viking' in it," the Poipole explained. "And the last time I sang it, Snivels got it stuck in his head for a whole week."

But, just to be on the safe side, he tried singing a different song.

" _Jurassic Park is frightning in the dark  
All the dinosaurs are running wild - _"

"And now that song is in my head," Snivels grumbled.

The next wasn't any less catchy.

" _My my, this here Anakin guy_  
 _May be Vader -_ "

"Adhesive," Hiccup interrupted this time, calmly but firmly. "Why don't you take a break for a little while, okay?"

Now, if this were a TV show, Adhesive would have definitely said something like, "Wow, do you guys not like my voice actor, or what?"

But it's not, so he didn't.

After several seconds went by, the Go-Getters went back to focusing on what lay ahead of them. But when they faced the front again, they found that what lay ahead of them was exactly what they were looking for.

"Isle of Sirens, dead ahead!" called Astrid.

They saw the island on the horizon immediately. Then, as they got even closer, they saw something else.

"Look there!" Ninjark called, pointing at the ocean. "You can see them going fishing near the coast!"

About to ask exactly what the Greninja was referring to, Hiccup stopped himself as he suddenly spotted them. In the water, maneuvering around the multitude of rock spires that rose out of the deep to scrape the sky, were what seemed to be shimmering ribbons that twisted and turned expertly through the choppy sea. More of them circled above the sea stacks with wings spread wide. The sunlight struck their hides and turned them iridescent shades of green, blue, and purple.

"They're so beautiful!" Heather gushed.

"Yeah," Snivels agreed. "Too bad we can't get too close. They'll roast anything that tries to get into their turf."

Although the Sirens were beautiful, their mounts tensed up and increased their speed, wanting to get away as fast as possible. Snivels had once told Hiccup that a lot of dragons were scared of Sirens because they looked so much like eels. Remembering this, Hiccup took mercy and urged the gang to go faster.

They passed over the feeding ground, craning their necks for one last glimpse of the magnificent sea dragons before heading onward. Now, they were flying over the island itself. The landmass was flat and mostly made up of rocks, although there was a bit of vegetation as well. As they flew further inland, they could see the first few columns of rock that served as the nesting area for the Siren community come into view.

Down on the rocks, the eel-like dragons lifted their heads and looked up at the sky with sharp, snakish eyes. The Sirens collectively started hissing and snarling and screeching when they saw the squad of dragons descending on their territory. Most of the dragonets slithered away and hid, while the adults flared out their wings and bared their needle-like fangs.

"Well," said Hiccup, "They're not singing. That's a good sign."

Batwings steered Mocktalk closer to Toothless. "They're not singing _yet_ ," he said, "But they will if we don't leave soon."

As if on cue, several soothing melodies curled into the air, rising ever louder as more joined in. The Sirens had started using their most unique and legendary of all their abilities - the fabled Song of the Siren, able to send anything into a hibernation-like sleep.

It didn't take long for the Go-Getters' eyelids to get heavy. They barely had enough energy left to reach up and cover their ears to try and muffle the sound. Their wingbeats of their mounts were quickly slowing down as they struggled to stay awake and airborne.

"Can you talk to them?" Snivels asked, yawning. "Maybe tell them why we're here?"

Being the only one in the group who was unaffected by the hypnotic lullaby, Batwings stood up in Mocktalk's saddle and replied, "I'll try, but you might want to give us some room."

Then, in one swift movement, Batwings jumped right off of Mocktalk's back and abruptly transformed. The shapeshifting process for Sirens was one that no one could ever get used to seeing – in fact, it was so swift that there was no time to accurately witness it, let alone describe it. The human disguise just sort of twisted in on itself in less than half a second, and then immediately blew up into a thirty-foot-long eel with wings and emerald-colored scales. It left Hiccup feeling slightly uncomfortable, and he briefly wondered what all the Arceus in the Multiverse had been thinking when they'd blessed these dragons with such unusual powers in the Monsters of Berk universe.

The Sirens on the rocks were silenced by the display. Stunned, they collectively stopped singing and watched as the newcomer lowered himself onto their island and gave them a greeting screech.

Landing nearby, the Go-Getters hopped off of their dragons' backs. Now that the song had been brought to a halt, they were starting to regain their alertness.

"Any idea what they're saying?" Blaze asked.

"Siren isn't the easiest part of Dragonese to learn," Snivels confessed. "I only know a few words myself."

One of the wild Sirens, a blue one with streaks of emerald, slithered towards Batwings. " _You are...one of us?_ " he asked, though the four trainers only heard screeches and hisses.

" _Sort of,_ " Batwings screeched back. " _I come from...a place far away from here. My friends and I heard your community was under attack, and we have come to help you._ "

The blue Siren exchanged looks with a purple one before turning back to Batwings. " _Who told you how to get here?_ " he hissed questioningly.

" _Someone named Drageist,_ " replied Batwings.

Several of the Sirens' eyes flashed with recognition at the Giratina's name. " _The Resistance sent you?_ "

Batwings hesitated, then answered, " _Yes._ "

" _Come with me,_ " said the blue Siren, " _I'll take you to our bigwings._ "

Batwings popped back into human form, revealing a set of grateful eyes and a reassuring smile. "Let's go!" he called back to the assembled team.

Mocktalk eagerly pranced after his rider, squawking happily. The Go-Getters were a lot less eager, keeping wary eyes on the Sirens around them as they advanced.

Hiccup absentmindedly patted Toothless on the head as he took in the sight of the island. In a community sense, it was much more like Berk than he'd thought it would be. There was a wide, open area near the middle of the island that would have served as a perfect village plaza, the naturally-made rock cliffs almost resembled buildings, and there were even several tall rock columns rising up into the air all around them, just like the torches on Berk.

Sitting on the largest rock cliff was a very strong-looking, scar-covered Siren with scarlet scales that, when the light caught them just right, looked a lot like they were made of blood. The whip-thin extension on the back of his head was a shade of green so dark it was almost black, and his sharp eyes were a piercing yellow.

"Who is that?" Hiccup whispered to Batwings.

After repeating the question to one of the nearby Sirens, and receiving the answer, Brandyn's Monsters of Berk counterpart replied, "That's Chiefslayer. The bigwings."

 _Chiefslayer_. That name was intimidating enough to give chills to even someone as mighty as Stoick the Vast. And judging by the amount of scars on the Siren's body, it was a very well-given name indeed.

Suddenly, Chiefslayer shot into the air and lowered himself in front of the group. After a moment, three other Sirens, one sapphire blue, one pale green and one shimmering violet, slithered forward to join him.

"I'm guessing that's his family," Astrid said, mostly to herself.

Batwings didn't wait for Hiccup to ask him to converse with the four Sirens in front of them. Each new bit of information that he received, he promptly translated for his friends.

"That one is Mightywings," he said, pointing at the blue one. "Chiefslayer's first son. Powerful flyer and fighter, and the clan's favorite." He then pointed to the green one. "And that's Needlefangs, the second son. Smaller and quicker, and he possesses a very excruciating bite."

"Chiefslayer, Mightywings, Needlefangs," Hiccup muttered, adding those names to his mental list of things to remember about the Sirens. He pointed to the violet Siren. "And the last one? Let me guess - Maneater? Enemykiller? Foedestroyer?"

"That's Calliope," Batwings said with a toothy grin. "Chiefslayer's mate."

Shoulders slumping in defeat, Hiccup gave the Siren a half-hearted chuckle. "Okay, I didn't see that coming. Who comes up with these names, anyway?"

"The mother chooses the dragonets' names," Batwings explained, "Which then have to be approved by the bigwings. Males are usually given the more intimidating names, while the females like pretty-sounding names. At least, that's how it works in a typical Siren community."

"...community," hissed a deep voice.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at Chiefslayer. "Community," he hissed again. "Ssssssiren community."

"Didn't you guys know?" asked Adhesive, the only one who wasn't stunned into silence by the inexplicable development. "The Sirens in this universe have the ability to mimic human speech."

* * *

Meanwhile, not knowing what kind of situation their friends were getting themselves into, Ra and Camazotz busied themselves with taking care of the baby dragons and Pokémon. Kickin' Hawk, Amber, and Buddy were a huge help, because some of the more excitable offspring would have been too much for their caretakers to handle by themselves.

Lunch time was break time for the Solgaleo and Lunala. With the Noibat trio, Mortem and Bigwings, and the rest preoccupied with stuffing their stomachs, there was nothing to stop them from taking a much-deserved rest.

Only Camazotz didn't seem tired. The pretty Lunala was busy mooning over all the adorable dragonets and baby Pokémon. "Look at them," she sighed. "They're even cuter when they're napping!"

"I hate to offend you," Ra told her, swallowing a Poké Puff. "But I'm not really into cute and adorable things."

"That's alright," said Camazotz. "I'm no genius when it comes to battling, so I'd say we're even."

"Everybody is a genius," Buddy argued, smiling proudly. Then he frowned as he added, "But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."

An impressed Ra gave a whistle. "Such wise words could only come from a Legendary Pokémon."

"That was beautiful," agreed Camazotz.

"I'm the son of Arceus," Buddy reminded them. "The whole 'words of wisdom' thing sort of comes with it."

The entrance gate suddenly opened, and a dark violet, skeletal dragon came flying in. Her appearance matched perfectly with the drawing of Eternatus, but it was easy to tell from her size that she was nowhere near fully grown - she was only about ten feet long at the very most.

The young Eternatus lowered herself down so she was hovering three feet above the arena floor. "Where are the four trainers?" she asked, "I was told I would find them here."

"No doubt they've reached the Isle of Sirens by now," sighed Buddy. "Are you Decade, the daughter of Millennium?"

"My friends call me Deca," she replied, almost unconsciously.

The Silvally lowered himself into a respectful bow. "Pleased to meet you, Deca."

The Eternatus glared at him. "My **_friends_** call me Deca," she repeated, with a heavy amount of emphasis.

"Oh!" Buddy straightened himself. "Sorry."

Despite the forgiving look she gave him, Decade turned back towards the entry gate and started to leave.

"Shouldn't you wait here?" asked Camazotz. "Shadow Pokémon are very merciless, and a fully-grown Eternatus is a force to be reckoned with by itself."

"But if anyone can handle it," said Ra, "It's our trainers. Have a little faith in them, won't you?"

Decade looked at the other three Legendary Pokémon over her shoulder. "Millennium is my father," she said, "He would _never_ hurt me." With that, she flew right out into the open air.

The trio stared after her, Ra and Camazotz with worry and Buddy with fascination, unsure of whether to follow or not. They would have stayed there the whole rest of the day had Amber not spoken up.

"You three go after her," the Charizard said, "Kickin' Hawk and I will handle things here."

Buddy nodded in thanks.

* * *

The wild Sirens slithered across the rocks, occasionally repeating fractions of words and phrases they'd heard either from Team Go-Getters or some other outside source. One Siren in particular stood out from all the rest - a particularly feeble-looking male whose vivid green scales had become so pale they were almost gray. His pale blue eyes had a glazed-over look, and the joints of his wings were swollen from arthritis.

The Go-Getters stepped as lightly as they could, but the Siren still heard them. He raised his head and turned every which way, his forked tongue flicking in and out of his mouth through a set of half-broken teeth.

"Snake-eyes," Batwings introduced, "The clan's former bigwings. One of the best, too, before Chiefslayer bested him in the battle for leadership. Well, that's what I heard, anyway."

Snivels instantly noticed something peculiar abput the way Snake-eyes was acting. They way he turned his head every which way, as if he didn't know where to look. Following a hunch, the Servine picked up a small rock and then dropped it. The tiny stone made a clattering noise, which Snake-eyes turned his head in the direction of. But he wasn't looking straight at it, he stared blankly past the group at the rock cliffs behind them.

"He's blind," Snivels realized. "He must have lost his sight with age."

Snake-eyes let out a sad-sounding croon as if he were agreeing with him.

"We Sirens may be fierce," said Batwings. "But we're not heartless. Those that lose the battle for leadership are still allowed to stay with the clan."

"...with the clan," Snake-eyes parroted weakly.

Nobody else spoke. They just continued on, watching the elderly Siren with sullen expressions.

Before they knew it, they'd stumbled upon a rocky coastline that made up one of the far edges of the island. The sound of the water rushing up to meet the shore was quite soothing, but the view was another story.

Hundreds of limp eel-like forms lay slumped upon the ground, body parts bent at unnatural angles and wings torn into shreds. Batwings averted his eyes from the scene, his face pale with horror and disgust.

"This battle must have just happened," Astrid reasoned. "In the last few days, I mean."

"The Shadow Pokémon were definitely here," said Brandyn. A horrified Heather buried her face into his shoulder, and he put an arm around her comfortingly. "It's the only explanation."

"Who do you think won?" Ninjark asked.

"Nobody," said Snivels. "Who could look at all of this carnage and think 'we won'?"

"A Viking," Blaze stated obviously.

Adhesive, devoid of his usual chipper self, stared out at the shores with teary eyes. "This has got to be the saddest thing I've ever seen."

A loud booming sound from nearby made them all jump. Moving quickly, the group followed Hiccup towards the source of the noise into a closed-off part of the island, surrounded by columns of rock.

A large, bipedal, dinosaurian Pokémon with a green, armor-like hide covering its body and a turquoise, metallic quadruped Pokémon, both with angry, red eyes and surrounded by dark, flaming auras, were being dive-bombed by a pair of Sirens.

The male Siren, whose chartreuse green scales glimmered in the sunlight like jewels, spat fire at the Metagross, but the Tyranitar blocked it with its flame-resistant body. The female Siren, a purplish-pink color, was singing as loudly as she could manage.

The group instinctively covered their ears, the noises from the flight below helping to muffle the song. Tyranitar and Metagross swayed a little, their eyes drooping with sleepiness.

"There's something down there," Heather managed to shout over all the commotion.

"Yeah," Astrid scoffed, "Two Shadow Pokémon going on a rampage."

The black-haired girl shook her head and pointed at the cliff below them. "No, there."

Resting ever so precariously upon one of the small cliff ledges was a white, oval-shaped object shining in the sunlight.

A Siren egg.

The egg's parents heard the exchange and looked up at the cliff above them to see what had made the noise. Unfortunately, the mother made the mistake of prematurely stopping her song.

Tyranitar and Metagross shook themselves awake and each let out a roar. The pair of Sirens swooped up and around for another attack. But the Shadow Pokémon were ready this time.

Metagross effortlessly lifted one of its limbs high above its body. The father Siren, unwilling to let such a mighty creature anywhere near his child, dove in for a direct attack. Big mistake - the Metagross brought its limb down upon the Siren's back, and the dragon's body went limp.

The mother Siren watched in horror as her mate slumped lifelessly to the ground. She was no match for two Shadow Pokémon by herself.

"We need to get that egg out of here," Hiccup realized. He turned to Batwings. "Can you get down there without being seen?"

"I think so," uttered the Siren, shifting into his true form a second later.

"I'll go with you," Snivels volunteered.

Batwings didn't have the time to approve, or refuse, the offer. He wasn't sure how long the egg's mother would last in battle alone, but it certainly wouldn't be for much longer. The Servine pulled himself up onto the emerald Siren's back, hanging on with dear life as Batwings cautiously slithered down the cliff, pressing his body up against the walls to avoid the eyes of the Shadow Pokémon.

Despite the odds stacked against her, the mother Siren's desire to protect her unhatched dragonet proved stronger than her sense of reason. She alternated between snapping her teeth and shooting fire to keep both the Tyranitar and Metagross at bay. Her success was short-lived, as the Shadow Pokémon easily brushed her attacks aside and continued to advance.

Soon, Batwings and Snivels had reached the cliff where the egg sat. Deciding that it wasn't very safe for Batwings to carry the egg in his mouth, Snivels reached out and grabbed it. Pulling it close, he wrapped his tail around it to keep it warm. Nodding in satisfaction, Batwings began climbing his way back up.

And just in time, too - the Tyranitar had caught the mother Siren in its jaws, and was biting down on her head with increasing force. The mother looked up at the cliff where her egg was, found it gone, and spotted the Siren and Servine ascending the cliff with what would soon be her precious child held protectively in their grasp. She let out a final, grateful screech before her vision went black.

Tyranitar let go of the mother, her body slumping to the ground next to her mate's. Batwings and Snivels had just made it back up to where everyone else was waiting when the two Shadow Pokémon shifted their gazes across their environment. The four trainers, the Siren, and the non-Shadow Pokémon ducked down and held their breath, praying that they hadn't been seen.

Either way, it didn't matter, because the Tyranitar and Metagross were soon being bombarded by fireballs and whatnot, courtesy of Toothless, Stormfly, Windshear, Buck, Mocktalk, Verne and Wavern.

Knowing full well that they were no match for four dragons, a monster, and two Dragon-types, the Shadow Pokémon made for a hasty retreat, but the damage had already been done.

"Batwings," Snivels said in a terrified whisper. "What do Sirens usually do with orphaned eggs?"

Shifting back into his human form, which almost made Snivels fall as he had to readjust his grip from around the egg, the Siren replied sullenly, "I don't know. I would like to assume they'd be taken in by a female who's willing to raise the dragonet as their own, but...Siren mothers are very protective of their young. It's unlikely you'll ever find it a new home here."

"Then we'll take it," Hiccup determined. "We've practically become an orphanage for dragons."

Lowering himself from Batwings's shoulders, Snivels asked, "But do you really think we have what it takes to raise a Siren dragonet? Even I don't know enough about them to serve as an effective parental figure for him, or her."

"So we'll learn," said Heather. "And if we can't handle it, I'm sure the Resistance could help us find a good home for them."

Snivels unwrapped his tail from around the egg, revealing it to the group. It was hard not to see the silhouette of the eel-like dragonet sitting inside the white shell.

"We'll have to figure it out later," Astrid sighed, watching the spot where Tyranitar and Metagross once stood. "There's no doubt those Shadow Pokémon will be back with reinforcements."

Blaze frowned. "And what are we supposed to do? If Millennium shows up, not even the entire Siren community will be able to help us defeat him."

Hearing her question, and the following statement, Hiccup wracked his brain trying to find the solution to this problem that was quickly escalating beyond their control. "The Sirens are a start," he told them, his voice gradually gaining confidence. "Even if we don't stand a chance, it's better than just standing by and doing nothing."

"And if we don't stand a chance?" asked Astrid, her voice tough and firm. But Hiccup could sense what she was really feeling - she used that voice so no one else could see when she was upset, or angry, or worst of all, scared.

"Then we'll improvise," the team leader said boldly. "It's what we do. We're Team Go-Getters, after all." Then, to reassure his wife that he had complete faith in her, and their friends, he took her hand in his and gave it a loving squeeze.

And when she fixed him in her radiant blue stare and offered a warm smile, he knew she had faith in him as well.

Behind them, Adhesive glanced at Batwings and grinned. "I ship it so hard."

* * *

"Land ho!" Ra shouted over the roar of the wind. "Good thing my species can run on air, or else we might have never made it in time!"

"You do remember," Buddy said from upon the Solgaleo's back, "That we still have to push through the defensive wall of Sirens?"

"You're the one who wanted to help Decade so badly," his temporary mount replied.

Camazotz rolled her eyes and shook her head, smiling in amusement. "Males..."

The ocean passed below them, and they were now flying over the rocky coastlines that covered about half of the Isle of Sirens. Just then, there was a mighty roar that pierced the air life a knife. The three Legendary Pokémon twisted their heads around to look behind them, and a draconic shape blurred by them so fast that they almost fell right out of the sky. When they faced forward again, it was to see a juvenile Eternatus being swarmed by angry Sirens.

"Decade!" Buddy screamed. "Hold on, we're coming!"

"No, stay away!" she shouted back. "It'll only make them madder!"

They were making such a commotion that it was only inevitable that something would soon notice them.

And something did. Or rather, someone. Several someones, in fact.

A warning shot from Toothless sent the Sirens scattering, only for them to circle right back. Snivels urged Verne upward to block their path, but the eel-ish dragons slipped right past.

"What are you guys doing here?!" Brandyn shouted over the Sirens' angry hisses.

"Decade came here looking for her father," said Ra, gesturing to the Eternatus with his head.

Camazotz added, "Don't worry, Amber and Kickin' Hawk are covering for us."

Batwings pulled Mocktalk into a halt when he spotted the Solgaleo and Lunala. It would have been impossible for him to not recognize them from earlier at the Academy, when Drageist first brought him in from the Monsters of Berk universe. In record time, he shifted into his true form and screeched, " _STOP!_ "

The shrill noise made the four trainers flinch and cover their ears. But it had the desired effect - the wild Sirens all slowed into a hover.

" _They're friends of ours,_ " Batwings explained, " _They won't hurt you, I promise._ " It felt odd, defending creatures that lived in a world that was both so similar and so different from his, but there was something about it that felt so very right.

Yes, the Go-Getters were his friends. And he was proud to call them that, too.

Chiefslayer, who had been leading the charge, eyed Batwings suspiciously for several bone-chilling minutes before finally conceding. With a snort, he made a beeline for the rocky cliff he called his home, and the other Sirens followed suit.

"So," Buddy said casually, "Besides dealing with angry Sirens, what have you all been up to?"

Hiccup chuckled. "Oh, you know, learning about new dragons, narrowly avoiding getting killed by the enemy, saving an orphaned dragonet, same old same old."

Snivels carefully held up the Siren egg as proof.

"We think the Shadow Pokémon are getting reinforcements," said Astrid. "Now that they know we're here, they won't be giving up the fight so easily."

Ninjark pointed to the four Legendary Pokémon in front of them. "Well, now we have reinforcements."

They collectively turned around back toward the Isle of Sirens to rest for the night, their expressions all saying the same exact thing.

 _Let's hope it's enough._

* * *

 ** _In the Monsters of Berk Universe_**

Upon a small hill stood a stood a large house, with a small staircase made out of wooden planks leading up to the front porch. A humanoid female with raven-black hair and a pair of wings slowly turned her egg over the fireplace to keep it warm. Standing behind her was a large bird-like monster with thick, rough scales.

"They have to be around here somewhere," the Siren whispered to herself. "Scarath, go out and look for them again. Please."

The Seregios opened his jaws, and a shrill shriek tore through the otherwise quiet atmosphere, frightening small forest animals for miles around. He spread his bronze wings and flew out of the house to do as he was asked.

The girl stared down at her egg and whispered to herself, "Batwings, where are you?"

* * *

Millennium stared from afar at the Isle of Sirens, his dark, flaming aura billowing in the wind like a cape. He'd sent the Tyranitar and Metagross ahead to survey the island, and they returned to him bearing bruises from an attack.

Team Go-Getters was here. He just knew it.

"Gather the others, Ira," he commanded. "Come tomorrow, the residents of this island will belong to the Dark Matter."

The Tyranitar obediently stomped off.

But somewhere deep inside, Millennium was fighting the battle every Shadow Pokémon had to face.

 _Release me,_ he begged. _Decade means a lot to me, but I can't betray my friends._

" **wE HaD a dEaL,** " was Dark Matter's reply. " **It'S eITheR yOu oR YoUR dAuGHteR.** "

That was sure to keep the Eternatus's willpower at bay for a good, long while...

* * *

 **Chiefslayer is the most awesome dragon name ever!**

 **I find it worth noting that the defacto leader of the Shadow Pokémon was originally going to be Lugia, as a reference to Pokémon XD, but with all of the Sword and Shield hype that had built up, I decided to give the role to Eternatus instead.**

 **Also, it's remarkably easy for me to imagine Adhesive having Weird Al's voice.**

 **Please leave me some reviews, and I'll see you all again soon! (Not literally.)**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Sonata

 **And so marks the debut of another important recurring character.**

* * *

Heather woke up early the next morning and found herself curled protectively around the orphan egg. Something warm rested against her back, and when she peeked over her shoulder, she found Brandyn asleep with one arm draped over her.

The Go-Getters had headed further inland to rest for the night safely. Each team member took turns staying up to keep an eye out for Shadow Pokémon. Naturally, Hiccup took the first shift, sitting awake for about an hour before rousing Astrid for her turn.

It was currently Ninjark's shift, though the Greninja looked half-asleep as he sat slumped against a rock wall.

Carefully Heather slid herself up to sitting and checked the egg. The white shell glistened in the growing light as she held the egg up to listen to it.

As soon as she lifted it, a series of squeaks came from inside the shell. Something squirmed inside, and the egg rocked a little.

 _Is it HATCHING?!_

Heather knew she shouldn't be quite so alarmed. Hatching was, after all, what eggs were supposed to do. This one had to hatch at some point.

But she'd really thought they'd have a few more days first! How could they have possibly rescued an egg _that_ close to hatching?!

"No!" Heather said firmly to the egg. "It is **not time to hatch yet!** "

The egg paused, then started rocking more vigorously.

"Stop that!" Heather said. She pulled the egg into a tight hug to stop it from moving.

The dragonet inside continued to squirm about.

"Stay," Heather ordered. "Stay in there!"

"That sounds like it's going well," Ninjark yawned from nearby, straightening himself against the rock wall.

"It's too soon!" Heather cried. "It can't possibly be time for this egg to hatch!"

"I don't think it agrees with you," observed the sympathetic Greninja.

The noise had started to awaken the rest of the team. An alerted Toothless took the back of Hiccup's shirt in his teeth and shook his rider awake. After letting out a surprised yell from the Night Fury's attempt to wake him, the team leader asked, "What is it? What's going on?"

"The Siren egg is hatching," Ninjark explained, now more awake than asleep. "Or trying to, anyway."

"It's too early!" insisted Heather. "We just got this egg, how can it be time for it to hatch now?!"

Snivels sat up, yawning, and gazed at the egg. "Maybe it thinks it's time to hatch because it's not in its nest anymore," he suggested. "I mean, the light is different, there's noises outside the shell, and it's being moved around a lot." He turned to Batwings and asked, "Is that a thing?"

The Siren spread his wings with an "I have no idea" expression.

"Dragonet," Heather said to the egg. "Baby Siren. This would be a **_very silly_** place and time to hatch. Don't do it!"

Tiny cracks spidered out along the top of the shell. Delighted with its success, the dragonet squirmed harder, its squeaks increasing in volume.

"I'm serious!" Heather yelped at it. "Stop hatching **_RIGHT NOW!_** "

The whole team was awake now, their eyes glued to the egg as the dragonet inside continued to fight its way to freedom. Hiccup took a single step forward to get a closer look for the big moment. However, he noticed something strange about his friends - they were edging farther away from the egg. Heather suddenly gave a yell and dropped the egg before scurrying away.

Only then did a memory click in the team leader's brain. "Hang on, aren't dragon eggs supposed to -"

 **BANG!**

The egg burst open, the force of its hatching causing everyone to flinch and instinctively cover their faces, protecting themselves from the sudden blast of light and heat.

Tentatively, Hiccup looked up when he felt it was safe to do so, feeling the spike in his heartbeat gradually start to slow down. Around him, the Go-Getters were also recovering from the shock of the event and coming out of their protective poses.

"...explode," Hiccup finished in an unamused deadpan.

The answer he got didn't come from any of the creatures beside him. His eyes flew open in surprise when he heard a small chirp come from a pale, slimy blob that was sitting right where the egg had been just seconds ago. The dragonet unfurled its serpentine body and let out a yawn, its tiny wings flapping awkwardly in an attempt to steady itself on no legs.

Astrid was the one to speak first. "That's...a baby Siren?" she asked.

"It's kind of cute," said Snivels. "A little slimier than I expected, but cute."

He was right, it was very slimy. But what was even more unflattering was that its skin was a boring and unattractive shade of light grey.

"Their scales must grow in when they get older," Hiccup mused to himself.

Scrunching up her nose, his wife said with derision, "That has to be the ugliest thing I have ever seen in my life."

"You sure about that?" Blaze asked in response. She could think of quite a few Vikings, on Berk and elsewhere, that were horrible-looking enough to give her nightmares.

The Siren dragonet blinked its eyes, letting them adjust to the light. Several blurry figures were surrounding it, some of which were making unfamiliar noises. The dragonet let out a sneeze and stared innocently up at the nearest figure as if they were the answer to all of the questions currently running through its tiny brain.

Heather tentatively reached out to pat the Siren's head, and the curious dragonet nipped at her fingers, its tiny fangs pricking the tips and leaving little spots of red.

"No, thank you, OW!" Heather said, grabbing the Siren from behind the head and lifting it up so they were eye to eye.

"Ow!" the dragonet mimicked eagerly. "Ow!" It stretched its neck towards the girl's black braid with a hungry look in its eyes.

"It is cute," Brandyn said, smiling.

"It's trying to _eat me!_ " Heather pointed out. "Does anyone have any food?"

Batwings tossed her a small fish he, ahem, _fished_ from the bag on Mocktalk's saddle. "Try this," he said.

Heather gave the fish to the dragonet and set it down on the rocks. The baby Siren stuck the fish in its mouth and chewed vigorously, giving Heather a worshipful look.

"Rrrrpt," the dragonet crooned. "Ow!"

"I think it likes you," Ninjark observed.

"Actually," said Snivels as he approached the dragonet. "It's an entirely natural occurrence. Dragon, Pokémon, basically any creature that hatches from an egg imprints on the first thing it sees after it's born, which is usually its parent."

Wide-eyed, Heather pointed at the Servine, then the dragonet, and finally herself. "You think, it thinks I'm its _mother?_ "

"That would explain its behavior," Hiccup pointed out.

The dragonet chirped in such a manner that it sounded like it was agreeing with him.

"We'll all pitch in," Snivels said confidently. "The more of us taking care of her, the more she'll learn who to trust."

Astrid gave the Servine a skeptical look. "You're sure it's a girl?"

"Hofferson," said Snivels, choosing to ignore her recent change of surname for the time being. "I've had close encounters with Night Furies, Deadly Nadders, Gronckles, Hideous Zipplebacks, Monstrous Nightmares, Terrible Terrors, Red Deaths, Boneknappers, Grapple Grounders, Speed Stingers, Razorwhips, Scauldrons, Thunderdrums, Whispering Deaths, Typhoomerangs, Fireworms, Timberjacks, Changewings, Smothering Smokebreaths, Flightmares, Mudrakers, Tide Gliders, Deathly Galeslashes, Abomibumbles, Chimeragons, Screaming Deaths, Light Furies, and now Sirens." He pointed to the Siren dragonet and concluded with a confident smile, "I think, by now, I know a female dragon when I smell one."

There was no sense in trying to argue with that amount of logic.

"Dagin!" chirped the dragonet, the remnants of the fish slipping out of her mouth. "Dagin, dagin!"

"I think she's trying to say 'dragon'," said a smiling Brandyn.

Okay, so newborn Sirens weren't entirely fluent with their mimicry. The dragonet continued to chirp out garbled fragments of words she'd heard being spoken with childish glee as she finished eating the rest of her fish.

"She needs a name," Heather realized.

Everyone turned to look at Batwings. "Any suggestions?" Buddy asked.

"I only have one," the older Siren replied. "And I'm saving it for my own daughter."

"Which is?" Blaze pressed.

Batwings sat debating himself for a good, long moment before finally uttering, "Nightingale."

Snivels's eyes lit up unexpectedly. "Oh, like Clara Nightingale!" Two seconds later, the realization of what he'd just blurted out sunk in, and he covered his mouth with both hands.

Decade stared at him with wide eyes before she asked in a surprised voice, "You know Miraculous?"

Snivels uncovered his mouth and sighed. "Honestly, I fail to see the appeal of it. I mean, every episode is basically the same. 'I am Hawk Moth, blah, blah, blah, bring me their Miraculouses, blah, blah, blah, revenge will be mine, blah, blah'."

Adhesive laughed, "You really nailed him, Snivster!"

"Guys," said Ra with urgency in his voice.

Everyone turned to see the Solgaleo staring out in the direction of the rising sun.

"You see that?" he asked, referring to the sea.

The sun's reflection on the waves was far too dazzling, so Camazotz shielded her eyes with her wing. What she saw was puzzling, and definitely suspicious.

"Are those Water Pokémon?" she muttered.

* * *

The Sirens in Chiefslayer's clan hissed warningly as Team Go-Getters approached their bigwings fearlessly.

The dragonet had fallen asleep in Heather's arms, the trainer not caring about the slime that was soaking into her shirt. If this Siren needed her to be her mother, then that's what Heather was going to be, and without protest.

"Have you picked a name?" asked a curious Ninjark.

"What do you think of Sonata?" Heather said.

"A sonata is a kind of musical composition," Snivels added in his "I know something helpful" voice.

Smiling, Astrid gave Hiccup a playful nudge and asked, "What do you think, bigwings?"

"What?" He'd forgotten about the ritual Sirens used when naming their dragonets. But it didn't take him very long to pick up on what his wife was referring to. "Oh, right! I think it's a nice name. It suits her."

Heather tickled the dragonet's slimy belly, making her let out a chirping laugh. "Sonata it is, then."

Sonata let out a happy croon before going right back to sleep.

Chiefslayer himself made his appearance right at that moment, perched on the lip of his family's rock wall. He took a moment to stretch his wings, and with a roar, he flew down toward Team Go-Getters' level. Other Sirens got out of his way when they saw him coming.

Batwings wasted no time shifting into his true form and relaying everything to the bigwings. " _Shadow Pokémon are headed this way. We can't defeat them alone, but we need to stop them from taking over this island._ "

" _You want us to help you_?" Chiefslayer responded, in an 'are-you-serious' tone of voice.

" _No_ ," Batwings told him. " _We NEED you to help us. And I have a feeling you also need us to help you. A lot of your kind died in battle on the shores, and this poor little dragonet just lost her parents._ " He gestured to Sonata with the wings that gave him his name. " _I may not know a whole lot about these Shadow Pokémon, but I do know this - they will destroy us all unless we can work together to stop them_. _Listen to my friends_. _They want to save your clan as much as you do. How many human words do you know how to say?_ "

"Not many," Chiefslayer answered in the best human voice he could manage.

"Namay!" Sonata squawked suddenly. She then started squirming in excitement, and Heather scrambled to readjust her hold on her.

"Not many what?" asked a nervous Hiccup.

Batwings popped back into his humanoid form and answered, "The Sirens here don't know too many human words. We are a very secluded species, after all."

"But they can still understand us," Brandyn added. "All dragons are intelligent enough to understand human words, but Sirens are by far the only species that has evolved a way to speak them as well. In our universe, anyway."

Hiccup paused as an idea struck him. "I think I've got a plan, but we have to move fast. Now, where's Toothless?"

Almost as if in answer, the Night Fury came bounding right over. When he reached Hiccup, he pounced on him and started licking his face.

"Akkptthhppp!" Hiccup spluttered, trying to wriggle away. "Toothless! You know that doesn't wash out!"

Having had his fun, Toothless jumped away and let Hiccup wipe the saliva off of his face and hands (with little success).

"Now that that's settled..." said Snivels, stifling a laugh. "I don't know what you've got planned, Hiccup, but I'm behind you one-hundred-and-fifty percent! Just tell us what to do and we'll get it done!"

It really wasn't a surprise how quickly the Servine had volunteered to aid Hiccup in his plan.

What did surprise them, however, was the unearthly shriek that split the air from somewhere off in the distance.

"Father," Decade whispered under her breath.

Millennium was on his way.

Now aware of what they had to face, Chiefslayer leaned in and snarled, " _What do you have in mind?_ "

* * *

It was only a few minutes to the island shores on foot. They stopped and crouched down behind an outcrop of rocks that marked the border between the beach and the Siren community.

"Let's get on our dragons and run the Shadow Pokémon out of here," said Hiccup. "We can't let them reach the Sirens."

"Let me talk to my father!" begged Decade. "I know he's still in there somewhere. If I can just figure out a way to reach him, I can stop this!"

Snake-eyes, who had been snoozing on top of one of the outcrops, woke up in response to all the noise. Letting out a yawn, the blind Siren slithered down between the rocks and disappeared from view.

"You can't go to him alone," Buddy said. "Maybe your father won't hurt you, but those other Shadow Pokémon will!"

Decade opened her mouth to protest, but found she had no comeback. Whether she liked it or not, she needed their help.

"FLORBLE!" Sonata squawked quite suddenly. "SADDAH POOKEEMOO!"

The suddenness of her shout made everyone around her jump about a foot into the air. Astrid recovered first and started wagging her finger at the dragonet. "Listen here. We are in the middle of a _very important mission_ right now, and you are going to stay ABSOLUTELY SILENT until we're done, do you understand?"

"SMEEBO SMEEBO SMEEBO!" Sonata said in the exact same tone, waggling her wing at Astrid.

"She's only a baby," said Heather. "She doesn't know any better."

"Too bad!" snapped Astrid.

"BOO BAH!" Sonata shouted enthusiastically.

"Shhhhhhhhh!" Batwings tried, flapping his wings at her.

That didn't have the desired effect at all. Sonata's whole face scrunched up and she fell back into Heather's arms, giggling hysterically.

"So," said Blaze, "This is officially the worst idea we've ever had."

"She might be quieter if we stop talking," Ninjark suggested.

"I'm not sure," Snivels said. "I think she likes it when Astrid yells at her."

Blaze perked up a little. "Really?" Her eyes glinted in amusement. "That would be a first."

"Asty!" cried the little dragonet as she reached her tiny wings toward Astrid. "Mrrble Asty!"

"Is that tiny eel trying to say my name?" asked the blonde in question, alarmed and most likely offended. "How did **_that_** happen?"

"She's a fast learner," Heather said proudly.

Seeing how quickly this whole thing was starting to head absolutely nowhere, Hiccup pushed himself to his feet and pulled himself onto Toothless's back. "I'll go scout ahead," he said to no one in particular. At his nudge, the Night Fury practically exploded into the air, disappearing into the rainclouds way up above them.

"Icca _poof_ ," Sonata said in an awestruck tone, staring at the spot where Hiccup had been.

"At least I'm not the only one with an embarrassing nickname," Astrid observed.

Heather, on the other hand, was more focused on the dragonet. "Aw, you are so smart," she cooed sweetly. "Who's a smart little girl? It's you! Yes it is!"

"Arceus almighty," said Astrid. "If my mother talked to me like that, I'd be -"

"Well-adjusted?" Blaze guessed, still with that amused glint in her eyes.

"As soft as a Swirlix," the blonde trainer finished, shooting at death glare at the Blaziken.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Snivels said. He smiled a little at the thought of a softer version of Astrid, one that wasn't as tough as nails unless she really needed to be.

But when she grabbed him by the yellow, V-shaped structure on his chest that extended behind his shoulders and pulled him in so close that all he could see were her eyes, flashing with anger, he squeaked, "Which is fine!"

"Can you say 'mama', little one?" Heather asked the dragonet in her arms, ignorant to all else around her. "Mama?"

"A-a," Sonata tried.

Heather laughed quietly. "Say 'mama'," she repeated slowly. "Ma-ma."

"Ma..." Sonata started, trailing off for a few seconds before finishing. "Ma!"

Batwings sat with his legs crossed, watching the exchange with a longing smile.

"She's a lot quieter now," Brandyn observed. "Maybe she just needed to get her excitement out."

Sonata looked up at him and tilted her head a little. "Ooh?" She wanted to ask who this stranger was that was getting up so close to her and her mommy, but she was only a dragonet who could mimic words she'd already heard before. She hadn't yet obtained a large enough vocabulary so she could ask who he was and what he was doing.

Out of nowhere, Snake-eyes slithered up to the group. "Noise," he uttered, blinking his sightless eyes. "Need sleep."

"Sorry," Brandyn offered.

"Sowwy," Sonata parroted.

Snake-eyes unexpectedly perked at the sound of the Siren dragonet's voice. He slithered to where he'd heard the sound and sniffed. "Daughter," he said, "Molpe...mate...Tunecarrier...dragonet?"

Batwings was the first to understand. "Sonata," he answered. "Is she your granddaughter?"

"Yes," said Snake-eyes, the last letter trailing off into a hiss.

Heather looked conflicted. If Snake-eyes was Sonata's grandfather, did that mean she'd have to stay on the island? What if the dragonet didn't understand that Heather wasn't really her mother? Would Snake-eyes even be able to raise Sonata on his own?

She was startled out of her thoughts by the sound of Night Fury claws clacking on rocks as Toothless landed.

"We've got company," said Hiccup. "Those Shadow Pokémon are closing in fast. We don't have any time to waste. Everyone mount up!"

Collectively, the remaining three trainers, the flightless Pokémon and Batwings swiftly pulled themselves onto dragon and monster-back. Toothless let out a roar and jumped into the air, Hiccup hanging on tightly so as not to be torn away from the saddle. The others followed suit, their mounts taking to the skies with powerful leaps and soaring out over the island. The Sirens on the rocks watched warily as the small group of heroes flew out to meet the invading Shadow Pokémon.

A shout of "Mocktalk, Mocktalk, oi oi oi!" rang over the rocks.

"Definitely better when the Qurupeco says it," said Snivels, smiling.

Up in the sky, the dragons split up from their usual formation and flew off in opposite directions. It was time to see if Hiccup's plan would work.

* * *

The first mistake had been bringing Sonata with them into the fight.

The second had been underestimating just how many Shadow Pokémon there were.

"Okay, whose idea was this?" Astrid shouted out. There was a Pidgeot, a Fearow and a Swellow chasing her and Stormfly through the skies, each Pokémon bearing the same angry red eyes and dark aura as the Tyranitar and Metagross from the other day.

"Blame your husband, not us!" yelled Decade. She had both a Gliscor and Togekiss on her tail - quite literally, in fact. Eternatus, apparently, were popular targets with the Shadow Pokémon.

Astrid's reply was cut off when her life partner in question flew by with Toothless, chasing a Scizor away with blasts of blue fire. However, the fleeing Pincer Pokémon circled back around and landed a Metal Claw right in the Night Fury's exposed belly.

"You think you're scary?" the former Hofferson growled at it, holding her trusty axe in the air. "Even a Fireworm is scarier than you!"

The Scizor ignored her, and closed in.

Acting on reflex, Astrid steered Stormfly straight up, away from the Pincer Pokémon. Unfortunately, this led them straight into the waiting beaks and talons of the three birds that were after them.

A glob of green goo splattered on the Swellow, and the Swallow Pokémon plummeted down toward the rocks, where the Sirens were waiting. Mocktalk and Batwings flew by triumphantly, and the Pidgeot gave chase.

It was only a matter of time before Astrid and Batwings found their mounts flying side-by-side with the Pidgeot and Fearow on their tails. The Siren's eyes lit up with a spark of genius, he leaned over a little and asked, "Are you familiar with Chicken?"

Misinterpreting his question, she shouted back, "I don't have any chicken!"

"No, the game," Batwings clarified. "Chicken."

"Oh!" Astrid understood. As they steered their mounts in opposite directions, she muttered to herself, "I like the way he thinks!"

Miraculously, neither the Pidgeot nor the Fearow had overheard the exchange. The two bird Pokémon each chose a victim to chase and started flying after them. Once Astrid and Batwings were certain they were far enough away, they each directed their mounts into a large U-turn, passing by their chasers, both of which immediately swerved around to follow. Both riders remained unfazed as they rapidly approached each other on their respective dragon and monster.

"Not yet," uttered Batwings. They were still a good distance away.

And that distance was rapidly decreasing. Five hundred feet.

Three hundred feet.

The Pidgeot and Fearow were closing in.

Two hundred feet.

"Not yet," the Siren said again.

One hundred feet.

The Pokémon were getting closer.

Fifty feet.

Twenty feet.

The Pokémon were right on top of them.

"NOW!" he bellowed.

Stormfly and Mocktalk dove out of the way, leaving the Pidgeot and Fearow to crash into each other in a tangle of feathers. The two riders laughed at their success.

But no matter how many Shadow Pokémon were knocked out, there were always more. Astrid saw a Venomoth plummet into the ocean water, only for a Noctowl and Dragonite to take its place.

 _There's too many of them, dang it!_ she thought, frustration replacing her triumph.

But then...the entire battle was suddenly interrupted by an echoing roar. Then came an entire series of roars, picking up from where the first one left off. It sounded like an entire army of dragons was approaching.

Of course, that was exactly what was happening.

Simultaneously, Team G-Getters and the Shadow Pokémon gaped at the sight of hundreds of Sirens lifting up off of the rocks below and into the sky overhead, with Chiefslayer and Snake-eyes flying at the front. The sound of their wings was like a thunderstorm, and definitely scarier than one!

Watching from afar, Millennium growled, "Send the rest."

Ira the Tyranitar let out a mighty roar as she and her Lapras mount charged through the water, followed by land, aquatic and flying Pokémon galore.

"This is it, guys," said Hiccup, noticing the approaching wave of Shadow Pokémon. "Now or never. Give it everything you've got!"

All of a sudden, Chiefslayer and Snake-eyes let out a duet of awesome shrieks and dove downwards at a steep angle, heading straight for the Shadow Pokémon. The entire clan joined in the chorus and followed their leaders into battle, screaming down at what must have been several dozen miles per hour!

Seeing a group of dragons of this size plunging straight at them with determination in their eyes and fire streaming from their jaws, was an indescribably incredible and terrifying sight. The Shadow Pokémon gaped in awe, never having seen such a huge coordinated attack in their lives. Then they quickly shook themselves out of it and resumed their charge.

There was instant chaos when both sides of the battle met. First into the fray were Hiccup and Chiefslayer, and it didn't take long for the rest of their combined forces to catch up.

Wisely, Heather steered Windshear away from the fight. Thank goodness she did, because Sonata had been squirming so much she'd nearly dropped the dragonet several times during the scuffle.

Decade pulled herself out of the battle, too. She scanned the area, looking for any sign of her father. He had to be around somewhere, he just had to!

And there he was.

He was charging into the fray, his core glowing with a blinding reddish light. Ra and Camazotz charged at him, but he effortlessly knocked them aside before they had the chance to launch an attack.

Hiccup and Toothless were dive-bombing a Rhydon when Millennium caught them. He wrapped the Night Fury and his rider tightly in his tendrils, lifting them both so he was looking them in the eyes.

"You think you can stop us?" he snarled. Poor Hiccup was only about the size of one of his claws. "You're only important because of that prophecy! Play the hero all you want, but you'll always be nothing but a shrimpy little worm!"

His core grew brighter, the energy was building up. No doubt it would soon be released upon his captives.

Then...

"STOP!" Decade cried.

Flinching back in surprise, Millennium looked up and saw his daughter hovering just ten feet away. The brightness of his core rapidly decreased, his Dynamax Cannon subsiding.

"...Decade?" he asked in a disbelieving voice.

"Don't do this, Father," she pleaded. "I know you're still in there somewhere. You have to fight it."

The Shadow Eternatus just stayed there hovering in place for a few long, agonizing minutes. Decade was right there, amidst all the fighting, willing to put herself in danger to stop him from following through with what Dark Matter wanted. He had been working so hard to keep her safe, and he wasn't going to betray that vow.

He released Toothless and Hiccup from his tendrils, leaving them free to fly away to safety.

"Fall back," he uttered, turning to fly away. He repeated in a louder voice, "Fall back!"

In spite of their confusion over what had brought this on, the Shadow Pokémon did as they were told. One by one, they retreated across the sea, following the Eternatus to who knows where.

"Thank you," Hiccup breathed.

Decade just gave him a curt nod.

Cries of triumph filled the skies as the Sirens flew back to the island, looking forward to the peace and quiet they would soon recover.

Unfortunately, it didn't last long.

For a battle was not won without casualties.

Snivels was the first to find Snake-eyes, lying weakly on the shore with his arthritic wings bent at unnatural angles. He and Verne quickly descended upon the wounded Siren, the Servine leaping off of his Noivern mount almost the moment the Sound Wave Pokémon's feet touched down.

The wings weren't Snake-eyes' only injury - based on how much he was wheezing, it was reasonable to believe that a hard impact from the fight had caused one of his lungs to collapse. He only had a few minutes at the most, which wasn't anywhere near enough time to get him to the closest healer.

Snivels cradled the elderly Siren's head in his hands. All he could manage to say was, "Can you get up?"

He knew the answer long before Snake-eyes said it. "No."

Somewhere nearby, Snivels could hear wingbeats and the sounds of dragons landing, followed by running footsteps as the Go-Getters ran to his aid.

Snake-eyes wheezed, "Sonata, daughter of Molpe...Molpe, daughter of Snake-eyes."

"I know," choked Snivels. "We'll take care of her, I promise." After a moment, he added, "You would have been an amazing grandfather."

That, it turned out, was the right thing to say. Snake-eyes's pained expression faded into relief, he wheezed out, "Thanks," the last letter trailing off into a hiss that soon fell silent. His body that was once contorted in pain released itself and it was in that moment he was truly gone.

Snivels smiled as a few tears escaped his eyes. He placed a hand gently on the Siren's forehead and muttered a meaningful prayer.

"May you find your place among the stars, under the watchful eyes of Arceus, where the pure and true of heart shall live for eternity and a day."

Then he rested the Siren's lifeless form on the shore, stroking the scaly head and half-heartedly scratching where the wings met the shoulders. Snake-eyes appeared to be at peace in spite of his painful end. All the weight tensing him up had released itself, along with his soul. If anywhere, he was most likely flying somewhere among the stars, with Molpe by his side.

"We should close his eyes," said Decade.

The Siren's eyes were still open, but they now had a glossed over look to them. Without waiting for a response, the young Eternatus reached down and gently slid the dragon's eyes shut with the tips of her claws.

"Now he could be sleeping," she muttered sadly.

There was a long moment of silence before Heather asked, "Do Sirens have funerals?"

"Not like Vikings do," sighed Batwings. "We don't have ships to sail off and set ablaze with flaming arrows. Not in my world, and definitely, for sure, not in this one. Most often, the body is left to be eaten by other creatures, sometimes even by our own kind."

"We could bury him," Blaze offered. "And leave a grave marker. That's how Pokémon honor their fallen."

It was no contest. A burial it would be.

The funeral itself was not big or fancy, they just dug a proportionately-sized hole where the shore met the inner land, placed Snake-eyes's body in it and then filled it up with sand and dirt. Snivels grabbed the flattest rock he could find, which was about the size of a book, and used a spearhead-shaped stone to carve a short, meaningful message on it.

 _Here lies Snake-eyes the Siren_

 _A good leader_

He laid the grave marker at the spot where he knew Snake-eyes's head was. The team stayed there for a long while before they went to mount up and head home.

Heather was the last to go. She knelt down beside the makeshift grave, Sonata still in her arms, and whispered, "I'll take good care of her."

And she intended to hold on to that promise.

No matter what.

* * *

Back at the academy, Hiccup and the others were telling the team members who'd stayed behind the story of how they routed the invading Shadow Pokémon. They had an audience, too – Drageist and Splice had returned to retrieve Batwings and Mocktalk.

"Sounds like quite the adventure!" laughed the Giratina, whose act of leaving the Griseous Orb in the Distortion World had resulted in him changing into his Altered Forme. "Sadly, though, I'm afraid this is the time where you part."

Everyone collectively turned to look at Batwings.

"Honestly," the Siren spoke up, "I've been looking forward to going home. I can't even begin to imagine how worried my wife is."

Heather blushed and looked down bashfully.

"Wait," Snivels spoke up, "Will Batwings and Mocktalk remember any of this afterwards?"

"I have been thinking about it," said Batwings. "And I decided it would be the best if we didn't. If Mocktalk or I just spontaneously started rambling on about some adventure none of the other Monster Riders remember, they'd think we were going crazy."

Snivels ducked his head to hide his melancholy frown.

"Of course, you're welcome to cross over at any time," Adhesive said. "Whenever we have another Siren-related problem, we'll know who to call!"

"And we'll be happy to help," said Batwings.

"Happy to help!" parroted his Qurupeco Monstie. "Mocktalk always happy to help!"

Nodding, Snivels steeled himself before speaking. "It was nice having you two as our friends again. In case this is the last time we ever see each other, I wish you both the best of luck."

Batwings smiled gratefully at the Servine. "You too, Snivels. You too."

It wasn't until he and Mocktalk had already passed through the memory-erasing portal back to their home dimension that Drageist and Splice had summoned when Snivels realized he'd forgotten to ask them about Ratha and Rathi.

 _Those poor little Rathlings,_ he thought. _There's no mention of them anywhere in Monsters of Berk. Still,_ _I'm sure they're okay. But, just to be safe, I'll ask Drageist before he leaves._

Decade, meanwhile, was outside the academy, watching the sunset with a solemn expression. She didn't even bother to look back at Buddy as he approached her.

"I know you want to go out and find him," said the Silvally. "And I'm not going to try and stop you. Just remember that if you ever need help, we'll always be here for you, Decade."

After a long moment, she finally turned around and looked him in the eye. She smiled and said, "Call me Deca," before turning back and flying off into the sky.

Buddy sat down on his haunches and watched her leave, a smile stretching across his face, which was rapidly turning a shade of red. His smile and blush both faded when Decade finally vanished on the horizon.

The Go-Getters passed by behind him, leaving the academy to turn in for the night. Only Hiccup stopped to look at the Silvally, a look of concern etched on his face.

Feeling the team leader's gaze, Buddy looked at Hiccup over his shoulder and said, "Go ahead, I'll catch up." Then he faced the horizon again, his smile slowly returning.

 _He really does love her,_ Hiccup realized all of a sudden. _If we ever meet her again, on another of our adventures, maybe he'll get the chance to tell her that._

"ICCA!" squealed a voice from up ahead. Sonata, of course. "Icca, Icca, Icca, IccaIccaIccaIccaIccaIccaIccaIccaIcca! IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICCAAAAAAAAA!"

It took him longer to catch up with the group than she would have liked, mostly because he had been startled by her first shout. Also, it took him a minute to figure out that the Siren dragonet was trying to say his name.

"Maybe we should have asked how long it takes for a Siren to figure out how to speak," he said, mostly to himself.

"I can answer that," said Drageist, who had yet to take his leave, unlike Splice, who had flown away almost the moment Batwings and Mocktalk stepped through the portal. "In your world, the art of mimicry can take quite a while for a Siren to master, a few months at the very least and a year at the very most. The Monsters of Berk Sirens, on the other hand, take about as much time to learn to speak as a normal human toddler." He then directed to the rest of the gang, "Any other questions before I go?"

"Just one," said Snivels. "Do you know how Ratha and Rathi are doing? I promise, I just want to know if they're okay."

The Altered Forme Giratina leaned his head down to the Servine's level. "They're both fine, Swift is taking very good care of them." With a wave of his wing, he opened a portal to the Distortion World. "Don't think for a minute that you'll never see them, or the Monster Riders, again. The future isn't set in stone, after all." With that, he left.

The following moment of quiet was ruined by Sonata's shout.

"Iccasty!" the Siren dragonet announced. She reached toward Hiccup and Astrid with her wings and repeated, "Iccasty!"

Both trainers raised an eyebrow at Adhesive.

"I swear, I did NOT teach her to do that!" the Poipole promised, holding his hands up in surrender.

"You are a fast learner," Heather said in her sweetest voice as she snuggled the baby Siren. "Such a smart little dragon! Yes, you are!"

"GORB!" squealed Sonata. "Mama!"

"Admit it, guys," said Snivels. "She's cute."

Astrid just shrugged, neither agreeing nor denying it. "If you like that sort of thing," she answered.

"And you don't?" Blaze asked in an offensive tone.

Flicking her bangs away, she responded hesitantly, "It's just not my thing. I'm an old-fashioned 'take it down with an axe and then lop its head off' kind of girl, not a 'stay at home and sew clothes for the kids' kind of girl."

Adhesive had to bite his tongue to stop himself from laughing. _If only she knew!_

"But you'd be great at teaching them to swing an axe," Hiccup jested, a laugh present in his voice.

"Snotlout's kids would never know what hit them," Astrid went along with the joke.

The couple had a good laugh at that.

Hiccup then took her hand in his, to which she reacted with a look of surprise.

"I think we'd make amazing parents," he murmured to her.

What happened next was unfortunately lost to Adhesive, as he had to fly away to a more secluded area where he wouldn't be tempted to start blurting out secrets about the future.

* * *

Heather watched with an adoring smile as Sonata snuggled into her cozy little bed. The dragonet's eyes slowly drooped shut, she was obviously tired from all the day's happenings.

"Goodnight, sweet song," whispered Heather.

"Nite," Sonata crooned softly in response before she started snoring lightly.

Brandyn made his presence known to his girlfriend by uttering, "So cute," in awe.

She jumped a little, but she wasn't too surprised he was there. "Y-you're talking about Sonata, right?"

Dazzlingly, his smile widened, and he pulled her in toward him for a hug. When he spoke, she could feel his warm breath against her neck. "I was. But you're cute, too, in case you were wondering." He turned to kiss her cheek, prompting her to turn a brilliant shade of scarlet. "I always enjoy being with you, Heather."

"Me too," Heather replied, hugging him back. "It's only been a few weeks, but..."

Brandyn pulled away from her, but still lingered close enough so that he didn't have to let go of her. His shining blue eyes, aside from being more stunning than ever, blinked questioningly at her.

"But..." he prompted.

For a moment, Heather just stared, captivated by his eyes.

 _Is this how Hiccup feels when he looks at Astrid?_

Heeding her boyfriend's earlier request, Heather continued, a bit uncertainly, "Well...um, we only just met a little over a month ago, but I feel like I've known you forever. It's just that...I feel better around you. Like, I can be myself without the fear of being judged. I only first noticed it when you offered your friendship, but now that I'm with you...I can't imagine being without you. You know?"

Wow, that _had_ to have been the most incoherent speech she had ever given. But there was something about this boy, and the way he made her pulse race...

"Of course I know," Brandyn told her with yet another soft smile. He pulled himself closer until their noses were touching. "I've felt the same way. And I think I know why."

Pausing to consider this, Heather soon realized that she knew why as well. She had known all along, but never had the courage to utter the words, not even to herself.

Until now.

Two voices blended together in that moment. "I love you."

And then, their noses weren't the only parts of their bodies that were making contact.

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile**_

When the door opened, Heather expected Scarath. So it was to her joyous surprise when she turned and saw Batwings entering the room. The female Siren leapt to her feet and rushed in to hug her husband, burying her head into his shoulder and inhaling his scent to assure herself that this was real.

"Where have you been?" she sighed, turning to kiss his cheek.

"Out flying," he crooned in her ear. "Lost track of time, and apparently my surroundings. I'll take both shifts tomorrow."

The happy couple separated from their embrace and Batwings started for the fireplace where their egg was incubating.

"She really missed her daddy," Heather said with a teasing croon.

"Really?" asked Batwings, raising an eyebrow. "And how do you know that?"

His wife giggled and said, "Mother's intuition."

Shaking his head in amusement, the male Siren leaned in a little further to whisper to the egg, "Can't wait to meet you, Nightingale."

 _Oh, like Clara Nightingale!_

Batwings's head shot up and he looked around the room. "Did you hear something?" he asked.

"No," said a worried Heather. "Why? What's wrong?"

The father-to-be started, then looked thoughtful. He could have sworn he'd remembered hearing that somewhere before...

"Nothing," he decided. "I just got a really weird sense of déjà vu."

* * *

 _Love has many forms. Sometimes, you don't know that you feel it at first._

 _But once you realize that you have it, hold onto it and never let go. Because that feeling is the greatest power of all._

* * *

 **The idea is that Batwings (and the other Monster Riders) still remembers his encounters with Team Go-Getters, albeit dimly.**

 **Also, Snivels does not hate Miraculous. He just finds it infantile compared to everything he's experienced.**

 **Happy tenth anniversary of HTTYD!**


End file.
